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Old Grandpa Page 1 of 2
Another aging grizzly bear we named Old Grandpa, on the other hand, appeared to be a little worse off than Snaggle Tooth. He ambled onto the scene from the mud flats behind us. We noticed his approach, and his immense height. He had a large, round tooth jutting out from the left side of his mouth. His hair had a rusty, reddish tint, and was long and shaggy. Most distinctive were his white claws, longer than any bear claws I had ever seen. They were sticking out akimbo in every direction, and reminded me a fork that's been dropped down a garbage disposal while its turned on.
Old Grandpa looked older than any bear I have ever seen and he walked gingerly, as if each step was painful. He slowly approached the river’s edge, waded into the river, and took a place amongst the other fishing bears who were scanning and waiting for a fish to flop. He spotted a salmon fin and charged after it, fast as lighting, his immense size pushing apart a wave of water. While walking on land seemed slow and difficult, he ran with immense effort and focus. His age didn’t seem to in any way compromise his reflexes and speed, however he failed to successfully catch any fish that afternoon.
He eventually made his way back to the shore and exited the river about twenty feet from where we sat. Despite his immense size, and his dilapidated appearance, he had a calm energy that set us at ease. He knew we were there, but didn’t seem in the least bit interested nor agitated by our presence. He was interested, however, in sniffing the scene of a recent bear chase that occurred while he was fishing. Nervous bear had been lingering and hovering around us earlier. For no discernable reason, Bob exited the river and walked straight for nervous bear, who – being the nervous wreck that she is – took flight. Bob charged after her, and they both hauled ass at top speed across the flats until they disappeared entirely from view. Nervous bear was clearly frightened and running as fast as she could from Bob. We were left wondering what had caused the chase? When Old Grandpa got to the scuffles in the sand where the chase had begun he pressed his nose to the sand and sniffed vigorously for a minute or two. Like a human tracker that might analyze the footprints and markings in the sand to discern what had transpired, Old Grandpa was processing the scene using his nose.
© 2008 Jessica Teel |
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