This sign is in front of the General Store (the brown building) and about half a block from the school. The first time I saw it, I laughed.
Not any more.
We have bears around King Cove. A lot of them. They should be hibernating, or getting darned close to it. But there is a problem. Bears don’t take their winter nap until they are full…and these bears are still hungry.
You see, as many fish as we had this summer, it was nothing compared to previous years. The season was a month or two shorter than normal. And there were fewer fish too…especially King Salmon. Last year, a friend of mine saw some idiot with a net across the river, and he was catching salmon as they tried to swim UP the river. That meant that the fish didn’t get to spawn. Stunts like that mean less fish the following years.
So, the bears are still hungry. And the other night, one of them came into town for a midnight snack.
Across the street from the school, there is an apartment building that houses four families. In the wee hours of the morning, these fine folk were awakened by the sounds of their building being torn apart…literally. A bear the size of Mt. Everest was outside their window, tearing the siding off the place and trying to get in. It ripped the phone box off the house and devoured a drier vent. It dug into the outside wall with its claws. It pushed and banged on doors and walls.
The bear walked round and round the building before finally settling on one particular apartment. Dave and Cameron and their three kids, about five to twelve years old, live there. Cameron was away at a conference, so she missed all the excitement. Dave didn't. He was wide awake. His family had just been targeted by a 13-foot bear.
When the bear started banging and pushing on their door, David banged and yelled back, hoping it would move on. But it didn’t. It just ripped off more siding and made more holes in the wall. It was determined to get in. Eventually, the bear slid its claws under an outside window and pulled, ripping the window right out of the house, frame and all. And it started climbing through the gaping hole into the apartment.
Most people here (and especially the men) are avid hunters and heavily armed. Dave is no exception. He shot the bear in the face. The bear didn’t die, it just fell from the window and hit the ground. It was getting back on its feet when Brandon, a cop and a hunting buddy of Dave's, showed up and finished it off.
By law, they had to skin the bear and send the skin to Anchorage. Sounds silly to me, but those are the rules. They also measured it. That thing was 9 1/2 feet long from shoulder to tail. You add legs and a head to that, and it becomes one big bear. That thing stood about 13 feet. Brandon, who is an avid hunter, told Dave, "For years I’ve been looking for a bear that big…and you shoot it in your underwear!"
The attempted attack shook up the entire community. But fear of bears is nothing new to the area. The locals are terrified of them. I would imagine it is similar to the way an islander might feel about sharks. They are seen as dangerous creatures…because they are dangerous creatures. About ten years ago, a woman was walking on the outskirts of town here in King Cove with her three-year old daughter and six-year old son, when a bear appeared. They made the mistake of doing the natural thing and running. I guess they should have played dead. The bear grabbed the boy. The little guy was mostly eaten before the villagers got there and shot the bear dead. Now, just the thought of a bear showing up sends currents of fear through the community. And they show up a lot.
A couple of days after the recent attack, a mother bear and her cub were shot dead because they got too close to another house. Town is not a good place for these animals to hang out. They must be mighty hungry.
The giant bear.
Brandon, the cop, is preparing to skin it.
Dave holding the bear's paw.
