The Smoky Mountains

While driving around the loop at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains, I smelled a stench like I have never ever smelled before. I thought anything that smells that bad has to be a bear. I parked the truck and sure enough I saw one in a tree in a pasture about 500 yards away. I got my camera gear and headed toward the pasture. I had not even gotten to the fence yet, when it spotted me and from the very tip top of the tree to the ground in 3.8 seconds. It was headed for where the southern part of the loop passes, so I decided to intercept it.

I got in my truck and raced around to where I thought it would be.

When I got to the spot, I stopped. There stood a nice buck. I thought the bear doubled back, so I would get a few deer images. I set up the camera, and was working on the focus, when a faint breeze blew by. It contained the stench from before. I slowly raised my head and looked around…..nothing to the right…..nothing to the left…. deer in front with its ears alert…..so I turned around. I always where camo while photographing, and I was down wind from a bear standing on its back legs not 10 feet from me. The hunter became the hunted. I jumped around my tripod and hollered, “Get out of here.” Both animals obeyed the command and ran.

Later when I was reliving the incident, I told myself ……at 6ft 3in and 280 lbs. I could have taken that yearling bear at 4ft 9in and 120 lbs. Yeah! And if you believe that I have a bridge in the Arizona desert I will sell you.

Use common sense when chasing an animal so you do not become the hunted. Know what to do and have a plan in mind if you do change from hunter to hunted.

Georgia

I was in Calloway Gardens, GA when this took place. I got there at sunrise before the gate guard got in his booth, however the gate was open, so I drove in. I spent the day in their native flower section and shot many flowers I had never photographed before. As the sun got to high I went into their butterfly house and took some images there. Later in the afternoon, I worked the underbrush that is planted with every type of azalea known in this world. I did some sunsets over the ponds that exist, and went to the restaurant to eat. There I found out that I was not allowed to do any photography work there ( they wanted royalties from every image I shot, and that was not going to happen.)

I was then caught between a rock and a hard spot, as I had planned on spending the night there in my pick-up equipped so I could sleep in the back. I discovered these facts while talking to the waiter. So I made myself invisible, by parking my truck between two tour buses I found on the property. I crawled in the back and went to sleep……the worst that could happen would be I get awaked and ejected.

Sometime during the night the urge to urinate hit me, and I crawled out of the back of the truck. I headed for the Port-a-potty. I was about half way there and still on the parking area when I heard rustling in the leaves. I froze.

Zoooom….something went running past me. It was unexpected and with my sleepy eyes, all I could distinguish was it was yellowish tan. It stopped under the street light in the shrubbery at the edge of the parking lot close to where I was headed. All was quiet for about a minute and a half. Then Zoooom…..Here it came again but this time straight at me with big shining eyes glowing in the dark. All these different Kung fu moves raced through my mind as a means of self-defense, but they were unnecessary. This critter stopped on a dime about 10 feet in front of me, and hunched its back. It was then that I saw it was a bobcat.

It looked at me and then off to its right. As it did so……Zoom here came another on and attacked the first in a play like fashion. As fast as they appeared the were gone in a heated game of chase. Back and forth across the lot. After what seemed to be a lifetime, they stopped under the light and chased a few moths and then lay down. One let out a yowl, and the other walked over to it and they mated. After their love making they lay quiet for about 5 minutes and the female took off. The male followed close behind and I finally made it to the potty.

Orr Minnesota

The first time I went to Orr, MN, to the Schute Bear Sanctuary, I arrived there at noon. It did not open until 5PM. The Gate was locked so I decided a nap was in order. The next thing I remember was a tap on my window…..It was Bill Lea, a well-known photographer in the area of the Smokies. He was the man in charge of the sanctuary, and was on his way to get the 93 year old Mr. Schute, for the evenings viewing. We talked a few minutes and he opened the gate for me and took me to the trailer.

There I paid my fees and he laid down the rules. I could go anywhere within a certain area of the sanctuary, and make sure I never carried any food items on me. If you meet a bear on the trail, start talking to them and hold out your hands so they can see you have no food. Sounds easy enough but I never carry food, and I surely will not meet a bear.

Mr. Schute was a young man when he first lived on the property in a 12ft x 12ft shack. He would get up early, eat breakfast, and go to cut timber as he was a logger. When he would come back his shack would have been ram sacked by the bears and most of his food gone. Thus, he changed his early morning routine, eat his bacon, eggs, and pancakes and pour the grease and leftovers away from the cabin. He discovered that his cabin no longer would be raided by the bears. However, he created a different kind of monster.

They still feed the bears there, and why this has become one of the best places in the USA to see black bears. I have stood in one spot at dusk and counted as many as sixty bears in view from that one spot.

I took Wayne there a few years later, and this is where Brownie, as he was named wanted to become a photographer and steal Wayne’s 500 mm lens.

Back to the adventure……I had wandered around for an hour and only saw a couple of chipmunks and a red squirrel. So I decided to walk back to my truck and make me something to eat. I was walking down the gravel road, when I met this humongous black bear with a big brown spot on his back. I discovered later this was Brownie, so named because of the spot. Brownie was estimated to weigh 800 pounds and had been coming to the sanctuary for 30 years. Anyway, I did as Bill told me…..I stopped, I started talking, “Nice bear, I just want to take your picture.”, and I held out my hands.

Brownie stopped and sniffed the air. He took a couple of steps toward me and sniffed again. Then he walked almost up to me. He probably could smell fear when he sniffed that time. He took one more step. How I wanted to run, but knew that would only get me in trouble. He sniffed again and I could feel his breath on my hands. Now I was really pleading for him to be a nice bear and continue on for his supper. He stretched out his beck toward me and sniffed again and then licked each of my palms. (Probably to get the salt from the sweat on them. ) He than got up on his hind legs and gave me a high five and put his arm around me, and we went for supper. ( I just could not resist. ) Actually after the licks he walked past me, and never looked back.

This was a once in a lifetime experience. This gave me the confidence to not fear the animals of the world, but know them about before they get acquainted with you. Ones safety is important.