In the summer of 2006, our two-year-old cat had to be put down due to cancer.
Feeling unable/un-ready to go home after it was over, my husband and I took the dog – who was, like our now-deceased cat, a rescue animal (I have spent a lifetime rescuing animals and cannot abide people who abuse or abandon them) – and headed for the hills.
Literally, the hills. We drove first to the (foot)hills, then just… kept… going…
Eventually we reached a small mountain town with an old fashioned motorists’ lodge — several small studio-style cabins set roughly a quarter acre apart from one another surrounded a main house — and when we stopped, the stout taciturn owner said “Certainly do” when we asked whether she had one of those cabins available for the night.
She was happy (‘happy’ might be putting too fine a point on it; in actuality her expression was more along the lines of ‘less-scowly’) to allow the dog to stay with us (which was, of course, the only option we had — if she’d turned us away, we would’ve had a long drive home), warning only to “watch out for bears” when we took Lil Miss Pup out for a walk.
The first walk came later in the evening, when – having driven further north – we walked the dog around the still-snowy (in July!) landscape surrounding an alpine lake.
On our return drive, headed back to the cabin, I spotted out my passenger-side window the form of an animal loping alongside the road. Only its backside was in my line of vision, but upon seeing the wagging tale my heart lurched. I told my husband to slow the car and prepared to get out, thinking, “Some sonofabitch has has abandoned their dog up here!” (I am a Rescuer of Animals, remember)…
And then, as I was opening up my car door…
The ‘dog’ turned around.
.
.
.
.
.
!!!
NOPE. It wasn’t a dog…
“OhshitOhshitOHSHIT!” combined with “Roll up the window!” and a bit of panicked pull-our-pup’s-head-back-into-the-cab (she loved to ride around with her head hanging out the window, feeling the breeze) fought with “GoGoGO!” and “That’s a BEAR — it’s a BEAR!” for typed dialog inside the shrieked air-bubble narration balloons hanging in dread above our heads.
My husband floored it.
[Because the bear? It was a juvenile. (Which explains why I thought it was a dog — juvenile bears are compatible in size with large breed adult dogs.) And where there’s a baby bear, there’s a mama. You DON’T want to mess with a mama bear!]
So, yeah.
*laugh*
I am no longer of a mind (or temperament) to rescue animals, primarily because I’m exhausted by all the years of care and loss (but also because our one remaining pet has worn thin my tolerance with his old-kitty assholery), but I still find people’s abuse and neglect of animals to be unbearable.
And after the ‘bear’ incident, I’m far less prone than I once was to jump out of my car when I see a dog that may be a stray. Because it may not turn out to be a dog at all. And somehow I think that if a mama bear saw me chasing after her cub to ‘rescue’ it, she might find *that* situation to be un-bear-able. 😉
Are you an Animal Rescue person?
Have you ever seen – or mistaken – a predatory animal in the wild?
for the Reminiscences prompt: ANIMAL
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Fun story to read, Feve. I’m not actually an animal rescue person, but I did donate a lot of my time when our new animal shelter was built hoping set it up. The people on this island our dog crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it. When you and your husband come to visit I will take you on a tour.
Now I must look like an idiot who can’t spell. I love to voice text so I’m blaming Siri! She doesn’t like it when I do that.
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Haha! 😉 You never have to worry about me being judgy about those things. Autocorrect has eff’ed up more of my own comments than I could possibly count! 😛
Well, that’s a worthwhile way to donate your time. 🙂
There’s a large, very active animal shelter where I live too, but – with the exception of when everyone was out walking their dogs as a way to get out of the house during lockdown – I hardly ever see people out and about with their pets.
This is so funny, even though there was a potential for danger of course!
~ Marie
It was — we laughed about it for quite a while afterward. 🙂
I was driving through Yellowstone Park once, years ago, and we came upon a large black bear lying in the shade on a corner of the road. It was incredible the traffic jam this bear caused. This was prior to cell phones and people had to use film cameras to take pictures. All these people were within 3 feet of this bear posing while friends and family took pictures. I couldn’t get over the risks they were taking with this 400-500 pound wild bear. Crazy!
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Oy. I think bears are awesome but I’m not gonna pose with one!
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What a great and terrifying memory! I have rescued soooo many cats over the years – an in my animal care job look after many rescue dogs – in fact I have one at my side now called Rocky 😉
May x
Awww. 🙂
Our last remaining rescue is now gone. We said good-bye last weekend. Unfortunately, he did a lot of damage to the house before the end, so we have spent the past few days ripping apart rooms and prepping them for repair/remodel.
Ohh, I loved this story. Even the mistake you nearly made!
I think you’ve done a wonderful thing, rescuing several animals over the years. I can see how you feel you’ve done enough now though!
Your reminiscence inspired mine, I hope you don’t mind that I jumped on the same theme.
Oh, I love it when I find posts that inspire me to write — I’m so glad this one got your thought wheels turning! I’ll come check it out. 🙂