Bear?

As I was walking this morning, it was still kind of dark since the sky is overcast.  The girls & I are walking along beside a wooded area, when I hear something.  It's a sound I can't place.  It could have been a branch falling, or.... It's not unheard of that a stray bear could have found it's way down to the small town.  I quickened my step, forcing the girls to stay on the walkway and to not stop and sniff anything, or else they may end up a bear's breakfast.  I made sure my cellphone pad was unlocked, so that if I needed to call 911 I could do so in a hurry.    I kept looking over my shoulder until I got to the lower side of the park (where the playgrounds and open spaces are). 
When OS & MS were in high school, I drove by the elementary school to find quite a few emergency vehicles and the wooded area next to the creek had been roped off.  The first thing that came to my mind was:  "Where were the boys last night?"  Luckily they were at home, so I was a bit relieved.  Then, I thought maybe they found a body down there.  Later, I found out that there had been a bear spotted.  This happens every now and then.  Just a month ago, one had been spotted in Knox County...far away from its usual home. 
Suffice it to say, I have a crazy imagination sometimes.  The sound I heard was probably just a branch falling.  We've had quite a bit of rain and high winds the past few days, so it would make sense that it was a branch.  Then again, it could've been some homeless person waking up!  (For the record...I've never seen a homeless person in the Small Town, much less in the park!)

13 comments:

  1. Always best to be prepared. Every now and then I just feel on edge when I'm out walking. Every little common sound takes on new meaning.

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  2. Yep - I agree. Sometimes you just get a "vibe" and move a little more quickly.

    If you don't have any homeless folks living in your woods, you're very fortunate. Several of our favorite geocache areas around here have been compromised because if the underbrush is good enough to hide a cache, it tends to be attractive to hide a temporary home.

    I have mixed emotions about the whole issue.

    We've had brown bears spotted already too - and we're within 10 minutes of Dulles Airport! Crazy! I wish they'd snack on some of the deer around here!

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  3. I carry a stick when walking Koda mainly because he got attacked a few years back by another dog when I didn't have a stick with me, so now I carry one for good precaution. Might be wise to carry one or some mace or something else like pepper spray if it is legal in your state. Most homeless people I encounter tend to stay by themselves and rarely approach me; I would like to say I have never seen a homeless person, but sadly that is not the case here :(

    I try to at least say hi to them if they cross my path.

    We had a bear one time come through the town where I lived in Montana. I was glad I wasn't near where the sighting happened.

    I had to laugh; whenever I would hear of something going on, I would mentally try to remember where son was the night before to see if he was involved or not :)

    betty

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  4. Glad you were safe. I walked up on a bear and momma once in Cades Cove and it really unnerved me.

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  5. Better to be safe than sorry. We don't have any bears (that I know of) around here. We have coyotes ... I hear them in the distance at night.

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  6. A bear is one thing that I would rather not run into while I'm out walking; and it could certainly happen here. Though, better a bear than a mountain lion... Glad that whatever it was left you alone!

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  7. Good grieg! That's way too much excitement for a morning walk! (Just think of the extra calories your burned from "fear"!) In our area when we hear strange noises we think of gators!!

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  8. I would have been running like a bat out of hell if I had been you! For sure, attracting every man-eating creature around as I would be running and flailing my arms like Phoebe on FRIENDS. LOL

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  10. Oh, how scary! Trust your intuition...it's better to be safe than sorry!

    Many years ago when my husband and I were first married, we lived in the foothills outside Boulder, CO...very remote! We used to hear mountain lions walking across our roof at night - so scary. One night mr husband heard what he thought was a raccoon getting into the trash cans. He ran downstairs (in his birthday suit, no less), and threw open the kitchen door to yell at the raccoon and came face to face with a big black bear! He shrieked like a little girl and slammed that door! I still that about that!

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  11. Hi Mary, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such nice comment! Now about bears..AAAACK!


    Barb

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  12. I am right there with you, my mind would have gone in the same direction. (did you read my post on the 4th about the coyote and Charlie?) I am glad it was nothing and you made it home safe.

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