"Unleashing the Power of Bark Busters: Even Bears Listen to the 'BAH!'"
We went to Cumberland Falls State Park last weekend with another family and stayed in their cabins. The cabins were in a beautiful, wooded part of the park and there were signs up everywhere about rising bear activity. I guess the furry guys are waking up after a long winter and are hungry. We didn't think much of it because we've all seen those signs before...and never a bear.
Until this trip.
We grilled outdoors on the charcoal barbeque and made s'mores around the campfire and put the kids to bed in the cabin. We left the door open because the temperature was great and the mosquitoes haven't come out yet. The adults sat around the campfire, which was only about 25 feet away. I was staring into the flames when Jan's law school buddy says, "There's a bear. At the door of the cabin."
We all jumped up, and there was a six foot tall brown bear checking out the garbage can on the porch. The door behind him was wide open, and I remember thinking "There's a bear between me and my children. THERE"S A BEAR BETWEEN ME AND MY CHILDREN." Except that some part of my brain couldn't believe it -- so I just froze. (Lesson learned: I am not great in a crisis.) I guess Jan's friend was about to pull a burning log from the fire and his wife was going to try to get around the bear to shut the door, (and I was going to stand there, open-mouthed, refusing to believe that there was a bear in front of me), when Jan jumps forward and yells....
"BAH!"
The bear looked at him, and Jan started waving his arms and giving the most aggressive "BAH!" ever. He BAHed the bear off the porch and back into the woods. The kids were fine, we were fine, and the bear ran off.
Then we looked at each other and said, "Bark Busters was the best money we ever spent. Ever."
So it works on bears, too! Plus my husband gets bonus "man" points for defending our children from a bear.
Take care,
Lauren