Bear vs. Motorhome
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We had some unexpected excitement on our way home from the Bayfield Apple Festival this weekend in beautiful northern Wisconsin (south shore of Lake Superior). A 350 lb black bear decided to throw a little chop block on our motorhome. We were rolling along at about 50mph (80kph). Things turned out poorly for all involved. While the bear definitely ripped us up a little, I'm sure he was real dead on impact. None of us were hurt.
Behind all of the obvious surface damage, the front cross-frame piece is bent back about 1-2 inches. He hit us just off center running from right to left and we think he rolled underneath the front driver's side (that's left for us:) and out the side just behind the front tire. Who won? You make the call. The bear is more "intact" than the motorhome, but definitely more dead.
On a side note, is anyone here familiar with American Indian tradition? We were passing through indian land and one of the reservation police officers (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe, I think) broke a cigarette in half and sprinkled the tobacco in a ring around the dead bear. Any idea what this means?
Oh, and the motorhome is still for sale if anyone is interested.
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Tobbaco (Tsâ'lû) is native to the Americas... unlike what most people think, tobacco is what is in the peace pipe, that's why we don't die of lung cancer as often, it's in our genes I guess...
there is a story of my people losing Tsalu for a time... they thought they might die without it... (addiction)
there are many versions and some trade out fire with tobacco... but they tell of many animals trying to find and retrieve the sacred smoke... in many stories it is the all powerful bear the largest and most respected of the American native predators who gets the job done...
he is thought to have brought life back to the elderly woman who was dying with out it... in the stories she is said to have died right before he returns, but he lights the pipe and blows the smoke into her anyway and she comes back to life... the the bear and tsalu are treasured always after that and kept close to our hearts...
I'm not sure of the local tribes in Wisconsin, but there would be far more bears there than in the southern states, so I would imagine they have their own stories and rituals, but regardless, the bear and tobacco have great meaning to all natives and I would say what he was doing was showing the deserved respect for a fallen brother... the circle in native areas is normally as symbol of prayer and spirit paths...
what did they do with him after the accident? the bear?
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We had first choice to keep the bear, but chose not to. From there, it's first in line to get it. They said that the person who got it called the sherriff's office within 3 minutes of our call - apparently they were listening to their scanner.
Thanks for informing me about the Native American traditions.
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Hunting bear with a police scanner?
Now nothing would surprise me. -
If they were anything like my grandpa, they probably just have the scanner on quietly in the background 24/7 to get the scoop on what's going on around town. I remember walking to my grandparents' house after school and listening to the scanner right through supper. If something interesting came up, grandpa would reach over and turn up the volume out of habit.
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Sorry for your unfortunate accident Nick.
My mother used to work on Redstone Arsenal here in Huntsville, AL. She was coming home one night and hit a deer. Totaled the car. After the MP made sure she was alright he asked her if she wanted the deer. She declined and the MP had one of his buddies with a truck on site before the tow truck made it there.
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