Bayous, bears, and buzzards Oh my!
I am wondering if any of you saw or read a news report in the past week or two about a black bear that climbed a tree in a residential area near Monroe, La., and spent part of the day gazing down at a media frenzy beneath him? I am told the story made television channels and newspaper columns from coast to coast. The bear, from a wildlife area in southern Arkansas, had strolled across state lines and meandered around until he found himself amongst some nice upscale homes along a bayou in Louisiana.
When some neighborhood dogs went crazy barking at him, he high-tailed it up a tree and tried to make himself invisible. Trouble was he was a black bear
Guess how I know that the black bear was a 24-hour wonder on a slow Good Friday news day? Because the tree he climbed was in the yard of my cousin's son! Isn't that something? Here I sat in Kansas, being famously connected to a news phenomenon and I didn't even know it!
According to my cousin's wife, the black bear story made CBS, ABC, and Fox television networks plus major newspapers across the country. I should have jumped right on those e-mailed photos they sent the night after a game warden shot a tranquilizer dart into the black bear's hide and he plummeted into a tarp hoisted high by other game department folks. They'd have made more exciting front-page pictures than did the shots of our Easter weekend snowstorm.
The best part of this story is the picture they sent of my cousin's young grandson and his friend who had spent the night. These two kids were in the front yard, emergency vehicle lights flashing all around, local television personalities interviewing anyone who was breathing, bear still high in the tree, print reporters with cameras and notebooks, and the boys were holding a sign that said, "$2 to see the BEAR."
What savvy, entrepreneurial children! Makes you just want to fire off a check for 20 bucks, doesn't it? (And if you do, I can provide you with an address.)
Several days ago I noticed a large number of buzzards perched on the metal railing around the top of the grain elevator on south Maple Street. Now this was a huge flock or gaggle or whatever one calls a grouping of buzzards. They all appeared to be looking in the direction of the more populated part of our community. Yikes.
In the past we have had wild turkeys downtown on Walnut Street, foxes in the storm drains, lizards beneath parts of the downtown sidewalks, and that herd of stray cats behind Baker Furniture. But I have never seen buzzards that close. There is probably all sorts of significance that can be attributed to buzzards being perched above our community, but I'm not going to comment.
Perhaps we should just accept them and make them a tourist attraction. Then some bright, enterprising youngsters could set up a booth with binoculars in Santa Fe Park and charge to see them.
Economic development is all in the eye of the beholder. Black bears or buzzards — if you have something unusual to promote, the world is going to want to see it. Just ask those boys in Louisiana.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
