Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Distractions, distractions!

I lay on my favorite high bank, watching brownies
in the shallow upper waters of a Kodiak river.
Below, a young bear (a two-year-old, most likely
an orphan who'd never learned much from its
mother) was trying to catch a salmon for lunch.

The water was just deep enough for the salmon to
swim fast. Although it left their dorsal fins and
about a third of their bodies exposed, they could
swim almost as fast as if they were in deep water.
And a lot of 'em swam in this particular pool.

The young bear galumped hard after a fleeing
salmon and was gaining on it when another one
intersected its path at 90° just a few inches in
front of its nose. Aha! Easier quarry!

The bear did a quick 90° to its right and took
after this new quarry — which by this time was
as far ahead of it as his earlier quarry had been.
The bear was again gaining on this second salmon
when another one dashed across its line of travel
and seemed to offer a better opportunity for a
fresh meal. So the bear turned and gave chase.

Again and again, the same thing happened. The
bear stopped and sat back in puzzled frustration
— and found to its surprise that it had trapped
a salmon under one front paw. It raised that
front paw, and the salmon escaped.

The show continued, in many repetitions of the
same scenario, until the bear again stopped and
sat back — and discovered another salmon
under one of its front paws.

It didn't let this one get away.

Thank God! The bear finally had its lunch, and
I was about to let-go with a painfully suppressed
burst of laughter.

Now you know one of the reasons that I do so love bears.

Thank you for that Ken!

Delightful! Thanks.

Some day, I'll hafta tell y'all about "Susie,"
one of my favorite grizzlies on the Toklat,
and her two cubs. But right now, I'm too wo' out.

I'll have you know that it ain't easy bein' senile.

But you do it so well!

Great story Ken......Some days I feel just like that bear but as I get older I find fewer and fewer of those days come to pass.

'Til then, you can struggle through some
of my other bear yarns in my "Bear in
Camp!" piece in Smokelore. On the left
side of the Campfire HOME page, scroll
down until you find it.

At the time, the episode struck me
as a comical reflection of a certain
all-too-common human foible.

Of which I am guilty of on a daily basis.

Ed

It's the usual thing in hospitals
and nursing homes. A nurse leaves
your room, saying "I'll be right
back," then meets somebody in the
hall who says something like "Are
you coming to my party Saturday?"
or "There's a wonderful special on
bananas at Safeway," and she won't
be back for an hour — if at all.

And if that hallway confabulation
occurs too near the end of her
shift, she won't be back at all,
no matter how important was the
reason that she had to leave
your room "for just a minute."

I've seen it happen time and time
again in every hospital and nursing
home where I've been a "customer"
in the last fifteen years.

Excellent story, Ken.

I can relate to the hospital distractions as well.