The local news chatter has been dominated by the actions of Brother Bruin. Normally a nocturnal raider, they have boldly been striking during the daylight hours. They have long been a local problem. It is one that has been escalating over time and, from the national news snippets, not just in what once was the animal’s natural domain. I get a kick out of the new welcome sign before the railroad overpass on Route 28 warning everyone it’s illegal to feed deer and bear. How long is it going to be before it hits the national news? I am willing to bet it will be one of the greatest calling cards for tourists ever devised by man.

All manner of wildlife are becoming more of a problem. What makes bear somewhat more of a problem is that they have the potential to be more of a danger than they are a nuisance. It’s no secret that government agencies and animal rights organizations have downplayed the dangers posed by bear. I urge everyone to read “Bear Attacks: the Deadly Truth,” by James Gary Shelton, to learn just how dangerous they can be. It is available in local bookstores and the Old Forge Library has a copy. I do not mean to alarm anyone but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Bear have always been more of a nuisance to me and my family than a danger. We have been extremely careful to take every precaution to insure they become nothing more than that. I figure we owe it to ourselves and the bear.

One of my first duties as a forest ranger back in the fifties and sixties was answering bear complaints. In that day and time state and local police units were meager, to say the least and communications between them practically non-existent. I received more than my share of bear complaints for reasons that need not be dwelled upon here.

At the time rangers were required to maintain offices in their residences to conduct official business. This meant that every member of your household had to be part and parcel to the job. It was a seven day a week 24 hour commitment every ranger was expected to uphold. In what shall we call “bear season” the phone interrupted your sleep nonstop at all hours. Needless to say this could have an unsettling effect on the ranger’s marital status.

I well remember a particular incident during a prolonged period of bear attacks that did not bode well for a friend of mine. It was during the second or third call of the night when my wife took action. She sprang from the bed post haste, shouting as she flew down the stairs to answer the phone, “I’ll tell them what they can do with their bear!” I trailed behind hoping to placate some taxpayer before they could bring about termination of a career I dearly loved. She seemed to have everything under control so as long as I was up I answered nature’s call as I awaited her explanation as to what transpired on the phone. I politely asked who called. To which I got the terse reply, “Some idiot named Ted Boardman.”

Ted happened to be an old friend from my carefree single days. When I asked what he wanted she said, “I don’t know, I hung up.”

To make a long story short I learned the next day he was in Inlet and needed a lift down to Old Forge. He had hitch hiked from Phoenix, N. Y. on Route 3 on a loop that landed him in Inlet. Two state troopers who were on patrol gave him a lift as far as Eagle Bay and the Herkimer County Line which was beyond their patrol limits. They gave him a dime with which he called me from a pay phone at the fire station. It was his only dime so he started walking and reached my brother’s camp on the outskirts of Old Forge about daylight. When I connected with him the next day he was more philosophical about the whole incident than angry. He told me he had enjoyed the trip, had no trouble getting rides and that one guy who picked him up outside of Tupper Lake even gave him a pull on a bottle.

As I finish writing this missive it is 6:45 in the morning. I was roused from my slumbers a little after three by the dogs from hell. They are our two wire-haired pointing griffons, hunters whose expertise is scenting bear or raccoon from a mile away with every opening in the house closed and letting you know it in no uncertain terms.

The thought for the week comes directly from me. People are often to blame for their own luck.