An episode appeared twice a month
in The Michigan Farmer magazine.
Whitepaw Gets Another Unexpected Bath
It was early the next evening when we again visited Uncle Joe. A fire,
which had started on the edge of Friendly Forest, had taken up his time
during the day. He invited us into his cabin which was located on the
hill near the big tower. We could see the tower not far away, looking
very tall in the twilight.
We seated ourselves in comfortable chairs before the big fireplace.
Mrs. Spence brought us a plate of apples and we ate in silence, waiting
for the story we knew was about to told.
"How was Whitepaw's fall both good and bad?" Jerry prompted.
Uncle Joe laughed. "Well, bees don't usually bother grown bears;
but Whitepaw was young and his fur was short, and the bees were stinging
him pretty badly. He was a funny sight going end over end down the hill
again. All I could see was a tangle of head and feet and fur with a
swarm of bees above it.
"It was a matter of seconds and plop, Whitepaw was in the water
again. This time he landed in deeper water and there was quite a current.
The water caught him and whirled him around and around. The bees weren't
bothering him any more. But now Whitepaw had the water to think about.
He came up, pawing the water but the current carried him under almost
immediately."
"Do bears go down three times before they drown?" Jerry asked.
Uncle Joe was thoughtful. Bears can take care of themselves pretty
well in the water. In fact they can catch fish almost as well as a man.
They walk out into the water a little ways and then stand very still.
When the fish come along, the bears knock the fish out of the water
with a blow of the paw. I have seen a bear catch a dozen fish in less
than an hour."
"But what happened to Whitepaw?" Jerry prompted impatiently.
"The second time he came up," Uncle Joe continued, "he
must have been pretty badly scared, for he was pawing the water frantically
and trying to work towards shore. But the current was carrying him out
instead of in and I saw that the little fellow needed help. I couldn't
leave the tower and there was no one to call. I could only wait and
hope he would make it. Then the current carried him around a bend in
the river.
"About a minute later, Whitepaw came in view again. This time
the current was carrying him towards a long sandbar which extended out
into the river. By now he was getting too tired to save himself. He
tried once or twice but his efforts became pretty weak."
Uncle Joe stopped. I had a hunch he did it intentionally. Then he turned
to us. "Who do you think was waiting for him at the end of the
sandbar?"
Jerry started up eagerly. "What? Who?"
"His mother," Uncle Joe said quietly, and Jerry settled back
into his chair. "She must have been near by when he fell in; and
with quick instinct went to the sandbar.
"Just as Whitepaw started to go by, the mother reached out one
big claw and hauled him to safety. On shore she looked him over to see
if he was hurt. Seeing that he was all right she waited until he had
rested. Then she spanked him a good hard spank with one of her big paws
and galloped after him towards the den."
"Did that cure him of climbing trees?" I asked.
Uncle Joe laughed. "It didn't seem to. He stayed pretty close
to the den for several days. Then one day he decided to climb a tree,
and climbed so high he couldn't get down again."
Jerry started to say something, but Uncle Joe shook his head. "Not
any more tonight, Jerry. Maybe tomorrow."
Click HERE to read "Whitepaw
Tries Climbing Again"
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© 2004 Leo VanMeer
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