Cool Hand Luke: Bear Hunter

So we're out walking the loop at the Nordic Trails yesterday evening with the dog. It's a great place because it's an even surface for everyone to walk on and the scenery is great.

Plus, we can let the little mongrel off the leash so he can do some running and get some needed exercise.

About five minutes into our walk, Luke perks up like he does whenever he's noticed something in the woods. Something usually means an animal, be it deer, squirrel, gopher, bird or whatever and he's generally wise smart enough to know that (a) he's seen one of those before so it's no big deal and (b) I really shouldn't chase after that because the parents tend to get angry-slash-scared.


Not this time though. This time it was something new and needed to be investigated.

So off went our dog, darting through some fallen trees chasing after an animal that Sarah and I had yet to see and identify.

Twelve seconds later, the yelling started, pleaded with our pug to come back. He was chasing a brown bear.

Now, this wasn't a full-grown adult bear, but even this cub could have mauled our dog and that is all that went through our heads as we heard and watched our dog working his way towards his new friend. Then the strangest thing happened...

The bear started running away. From Luke. Who wasn't even barking or anything.

Realizing the fear in our voices and having watched the bear scamper away faster than he could manage, Luke returned to us with new found confidence and energy. It was as if he knew that he had just chased off a bear, something that really shouldn't have happened. I mean, since when are bears or any kind afraid of yappy little pug dogs?

The rest of the trip was uneventful - in part because we didn't see any more bears (or animals at all for that matter), but also because the canine explorer and bear hunter was secured to his leash.

It's been almost 24 hours since this happened and I still can't stop laughing about it.

My stupid dog chased after a brown bear in the bear's natural surroundings and the bear took off like a bat outta hell.

No wonder he thinks he's indestructible.

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