Camping Another bear encounter>

It was two years after our first Bear encounter. We went back to Yosemite for a camping trip. As we were entering the campground, we saw this RV surrounded by wire fencing and a sign that said Bear Dogs. Later that day we walked up to the front gate to ask the Rangers about them. They said that the dogs belonged to a company that trained them to run the bears and other wild animals out of the campground.

They told us that this year there were at least 6 bears that have been running the campgrounds, mostly at night when the dogs had been put up for the night. Of course, you could not prove that by us, because the bears seemed to come around at all hours. The dogs only went out from 1-2 pm until 1am. The dogs could be heard barking most of the day.

The Ranger told us to watch out for a mother and her 2 cubs. The cubs are not as smart as the older more experienced bears and could be a little bolder coming into your campsite and the mother would be watching out for them.

Well we never saw them, but we had heard a bear scream out one night. The next day we found out that the mother became trapped inside one of the bear proof dumpsters. When she yelled it scared the two cubs, one had run off into the wood and the other up a tree. After they let the mother out, she reunited with only one of her cubs. The other had run off. That night the single cub was seen breaking into a truck. It had an ice chest on the front seat(in plain sight). We never heard if the mother ever found her missing cub.

One night just before dark, we all decided to go up to the restrooms and brush our teeth and clean up a little, not to mention take care of business for the last time.

We were standing outside of the restrooms waiting for everybody to finish up, and while we were there we heard from a crossed the road from us, "There it is, Get'em Tuffy!" Then we heard the dogs.

Well as soon as I heard that, I knew what was happening. The dogs had tracked down and were chasing a bear. Looking around I could see that the bear only had one direction it could go, OURS. Any other direction it would have to run through campsites that were lit up by lanterns and campfires. The only light around us was out flashlight. I took hold of the kid's shirts and pulled them back. As I did, here come the bear with the dogs right on it's rear. I would say it was about 10 to 15 feet in front of us. In one respect, it was so cool. Bears are beautiful animals and to see one that close was somewhat exciting (of course if you ask Ladyhawk she might have another opinion ). On the other hand, it was somewhat scary. You do not know if it could be so frightened by the dogs that it might come after you in all the confusion.

Well it did not get us and as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. That was the last Bear we saw on that trip!