Fun bear story

[Tired of Waiting]

A Bear, A Yard Stick and a Marine
By Steve Drumm, Freedom NH

There's a bear that roams the woods of Freedom NH. Many of the residents have seen the bear and even taken pictures of it. But the debate continues as to how big the bear is?

Folks in these parts say it stands anywhere from as high as a kitchen trash can to as high as the front end of a car. And weighs anywhere from 125 pounds to 600 pounds. This got me to thinking. How can we settle the debate?

Now we can't shoot it to make the measurements and we don't have the sleeping drug darts that Fish and Game biologist have. So I needed to find a way to do it while the bear is on prowl. The problem is how?

One evening I got to thinking on the problem. I wondered if there was a way to use a ruler to measure it. This presents a whole new set of problems. How do you get a bear to stand next to a ruler long enough to measure it. Then with the aid of an alcohol libation it came to me. Just stand next to the bear with a ruler and take a picture of it. But how to do that was now the issue. How can one be standing next to a bear with a ruler and take a picture at the same time.

So I decided to enlist the help of an old Devil Dog, U.S. Marine for you laymen. And I had just the one I needed living next door. Allen would do just fine. Marines are known for their courage so standing next to a bear shouldn't be a problem, should it? Of course Marines are also known for not being crazy even though at times they do what seems to be crazy to others. So off I went to present the plan to Al and to my surprise he offered to help. Of course I had neglected to tell him he was the ruler holder and I the photographer.

My plan was to wait for the bear, have my volunteer Marine walk up behind the bear with the ruler and I would, from a safe distance of course, take the picture. Sounded good to me.

The time came a couple days later as I spotted the bear coming through the yards. Off to my volunteer's house I go with ruler and camera in hand. The bear always cuts through his yard. "Here take the ruler and walk up behind the bear while I keep his attention and as soon as you're behind the bear give me a big smile and I'll snap the picture". "ARE YOU CRAZY!" was his only reply. But I reminded him of his status as a courageous Marine and that he had volunteered to help after all.

Reluctantly he set off as the bear came into the yard. As he approached the bear I made a little noise to get its' attention. Now, have anyone of you seen a trained Marine in his sneak up stealth mode before? I can tell you it is a sight to behold, but that's a different story.

He sneaked right up behind that bear, gave me a wink and smile and I snapped the picture. So now we know how tall the bear is. 30 inches at the shoulder. Proof is in the picture! See below.

The next project is to weigh the bear. I got it!! Just pick the bear up and step on a bathroom scale. Subtract your weight from the total and you got bear's weight. That ought to be simple enough don't you think Al?

Oh, has any one seen my brave marine lately? I can't seem to find him for the next phase of the project.





Disclaimer: This is a photoshop pic. The bear and Al do in fact live in Freedom though.


ToW

[camp guy]

It is nice to see a post that sticks to the bare facts, no elaboration, no embellishment.

Merry Christmas.

[boat_guy64]

I can't bear to hear the next chapter of this story

[bclaker]

I remember, back around 1970's, coming up on a bear under an apple tree on the edge of the woods on Watson's Hill in Freedom, while huntingb deer. He left in a hurry, but the ground unmder the apple tree was covered with hisdung and puke. Probably this bear's great grandfather.

[Irish Choppers]

These crazy stories remind me of the first time I took my boat out on Winni. I was barely out there for 20 minutes when the thickest fog I had ever seen rolled in! Without GPS it was unbearable trying to make our way back. Naturally, my wife began to panic so I told her to grin and bear it. Finally, we clawed our way back and celebrated with a cold beer!

[SAMIAM]

We had a huge bear raiding our dumpster this spring. He was so powerful that he was able to bend the steel doors to get in. We finally chained the covers and put a stop to it but we, also, were curious about guessing his size.
We had him on our security camera so we printed out a few images of the bear on all fours in front of the dumpster and also standing beside it. We were able to get measurements from the letters and decals on the dumpster.
He was around 7' long from nose to tail and his hindquarters were 36" tall. We figured it must have been in the 600lb range.

[Tired of Waiting]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

We had a huge bear raiding our dumpster this spring. He was so powerful that he was able to bend the steel doors to get in. We finally chained the covers and put a stop to it but we, also, were curious about guessing his size.
We had him on our security camera so we printed out a few images of the bear on all fours in front of the dumpster and also standing beside it. We were able to get measurements from the letters and decals on the dumpster.
He was around 7' long from nose to tail and his hindquarters were 36" tall. We figured it must have been in the 600lb range.

Like I said in the story, "just go out and pick him up, weigh you and the bear and subtract your weight" you'll have the bear's weight. Come on it's easy....


ToW