The 1960s/70s Bear Stories

A story about my encounters with bears in Alberta Canada

THE 1960s/70s BEAR STORIES

1962: Well I guess I got acquainted with bears via my Grandfather, who worked in the Rocky Mountains as a caretaker at a resort in the 1960s. He, my grandpa, was sometimes a wild, mysterious sort and would go up to the bears hanging around the iron box garbage dumpster and try to get them to do tricks and beg for bacon, which he would tempt them with. It was a bit or very risky and yet quite bizarre, to see this tiny frail old guy taunting bears that could have knocked his block off without noticing. It was like he well reckless and dangerous but him being a farmer from Europe, maybe, who had not much knowledge of such and did such and did get away with it, so maybe he was a “bear whisperer”. The bears seemed to like him though.

1966: Then our family was camping one time, I think it was in the mountains and I guess during the night this bear came to my side of the tent, where I lay sleeping and unfortunately, my head was right next to an open bag of Macintosh apples and the bear smelling such, I guess, started scratching at the tent and tore a hole through it and got a few grabs of apple, but then I guess my dad was awakened by the noise and not sure what he did, but he chased the bear off and the odd thing was most everyone else and me, slept right through the whole thing on account of the tranquilizing effect of the fresh mountain airs perhaps and only found out about it, in the morning when we woke. Yes there were the apples half eaten and a hole in the tent and the neighbors Styrofoam cooler, that had been left out, smashed to bits. Bears don't fool around.

1972: Well it was summer break and my grandfather had got me a job, as a dishwasher, at a hot springs swimming resort in the mountains, all alone on my own, at the tender age of 16. I was okay with it I guess and the first night was okay, cause we all got to sleep in the big house and its comfy amenities, but then when my grand folks left, things changed. I had worked a couple shifts and realized the main house wasn't the employees quarters and we employees all had to sleep in this trailer, with a propane heater in the center. It was awful, but the only place left to sleep was right next to the heater and needless to say, in the chill mountain air, the heat though welcome, was too much and I couldn't sleep, yet was expected to work as such, so I guess, in circumstantial defeat, I quit but to, what had made matters worse, was the bears were quite fearless there and as I rounded the corner to enter the trailer one time, one big bear was sitting quite calmly on the steps, waiting for ?.

It was a bit of a bad start to my working days. Sighs.