We had sheep, about sixty of them. During the war, the government gave grants to people who wanted to raise sheep for wool, which was used for uniforms. In 1948, we still had the sheep, and on a spring day, I looked down and there was this big bear down there with the sheep. Well, I took the rifle and shot it.
The next day, I was down at the store, and we were talking about this bear that I shot amongst the sheep. Well, the next day, there was a ‘fella’ come to see me. He came with Glen Parsons, and he was an artist. He wanted to know the different colours of the bear, especially up around her eyes and her nose. So we went back to look at it, and there lays the old big mother bear that was killed, and three little cubs curled up on top of her.
So between us we caught them, but one went up a big black spruce tree about two feet in diameter at the base. Well, I went up after him, about 20 or 30 feet, climbing the limbs of the tree like a ladder. Then he went out on a limb, and jumped into a creek near the base. He jumped through some tag alders that broke his fall, and landed in the water. Glen grabbed him out of the water, and we took the three of them home and tried to find places for them.
We gave two of them to the tourist camp. Myron Thompson was at the store, and he took the one that jumped from the tree. He drilled a hole by his house, with an auger, put a post in the hole, and tied the bear to it.. Myron Thompson and I took that bear and raised it all summer. It was a real pet. We kept it till fall, then we got a hold of the game warden and told him about it, and he says, “Well why don’t you try and get rid of it”. He says, “I think they need a bear in the Winnipeg Zoo”. So we contacted the Winnipeg Zoo, and yes they wanted one, so we had to get permission to ship it out of the province, which we did. Myron and I went into Winnipeg a couple of months later, and as soon as we showed up by that pen he was right there. That was the last time we saw that little bear.
I don’t know what happened to the other two bears we gave to Walter and Winnie Cromp, owners of the Wick Cliff Lodge. I think they gave one to the Americans. I don’t know what happened to the other one. However, it may have escaped and while running along the "South Road", was shot by one of the homesteaders.
Today, on account of this bear that I got, is why I’m fully against the hunting of bears in the spring. Bear cubs are born in the early spring, but aren’t weaned until the late summer. They only become independent from their mothers when they are a year and a half old, so these little bear cubs, that only weighed two to three pounds, never had a chance of survival.
The next day, I was down at the store, and we were talking about this bear that I shot amongst the sheep. Well, the next day, there was a ‘fella’ come to see me. He came with Glen Parsons, and he was an artist. He wanted to know the different colours of the bear, especially up around her eyes and her nose. So we went back to look at it, and there lays the old big mother bear that was killed, and three little cubs curled up on top of her.
So between us we caught them, but one went up a big black spruce tree about two feet in diameter at the base. Well, I went up after him, about 20 or 30 feet, climbing the limbs of the tree like a ladder. Then he went out on a limb, and jumped into a creek near the base. He jumped through some tag alders that broke his fall, and landed in the water. Glen grabbed him out of the water, and we took the three of them home and tried to find places for them.
We gave two of them to the tourist camp. Myron Thompson was at the store, and he took the one that jumped from the tree. He drilled a hole by his house, with an auger, put a post in the hole, and tied the bear to it.. Myron Thompson and I took that bear and raised it all summer. It was a real pet. We kept it till fall, then we got a hold of the game warden and told him about it, and he says, “Well why don’t you try and get rid of it”. He says, “I think they need a bear in the Winnipeg Zoo”. So we contacted the Winnipeg Zoo, and yes they wanted one, so we had to get permission to ship it out of the province, which we did. Myron and I went into Winnipeg a couple of months later, and as soon as we showed up by that pen he was right there. That was the last time we saw that little bear.
I don’t know what happened to the other two bears we gave to Walter and Winnie Cromp, owners of the Wick Cliff Lodge. I think they gave one to the Americans. I don’t know what happened to the other one. However, it may have escaped and while running along the "South Road", was shot by one of the homesteaders.
Today, on account of this bear that I got, is why I’m fully against the hunting of bears in the spring. Bear cubs are born in the early spring, but aren’t weaned until the late summer. They only become independent from their mothers when they are a year and a half old, so these little bear cubs, that only weighed two to three pounds, never had a chance of survival.
Story by Fred Radford
photo: Fred Radford and Myron Thompson with their bear
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