Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501240019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I won't tell you exactly where I saw them. It's not that I want to make a point about whether they should be hunted or not - I'll save that one for another time. I just think you should find your own bear.
The way I look at it, the bears have their own space and I have mine. They were here before me, so I'm grateful for any brief trespass they'll allow me.
The first bear walked up to me while I was sitting alone in the woods one night. I'd been hiking part of the Appalachian Trail in Giles County and had agreed to join up with a friend at a predetermined spot near the trail.
My friend couldn't make it until after dark, so I hiked to the road using a flashlight. To save batteries, I sat in the dark at our rendezvous place. It was a clear night and there were lots of stars, so I didn't mind the wait.
But just as I began to settle back and get comfortable, I heard this rustling in the woods on the other side of the road. At first I thought it might be a deer or something like that, so I decided to wait and surprise it with my light so I could get a good look.
Well, I got one. I don't know who was more surprised, me or the bear. He (or she, I really have no idea) raised up, eyes shining red in the flashlight's beam, and gave me one scornful look before rushing off, thankfully, in the opposite direction.
I do not mean to give an impression here that I am some sort of experienced woodsman. I'm a transplanted city boy, so this bear was something new to me. And seeing it, to me, meant that much more. I was mystified and petrified at the same time. I hadn't experienced anything so frightfully wonderful before and felt as though I'd been given something special.
My second bear wasn't nearly as exciting, but was no less impressive to me. I spotted her - I'd like to think this is so - while sitting safely inside my truck. She, too, dashed off as soon as she saw me. It was early morning, just after sunrise, and I remember thinking how fat and healthy she looked. I thought it possible that she might be carrying cubs and this made the moment that much more memorable.
You see, I've read that black bears give birth to two or three cubs in January or early February, and it warms me to think that this bear could be hidden away in a cave somewhere doing just that at this very moment. I need to know the bears are there. I need them after a busy day at work. I need them when the phone rings off the hook or after driving past a busy mall on a Friday afternoon. They are as necessary to me as clean water and air.
Just knowing they're there makes all the difference.
Steve Kark is an instructor at Virginia Tech and a correspondent for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau. He writes from his home in scenic Rye Hollow, in a remote part of Giles County south of Pearisburg.
by CNB