"Acorn"-ucopia of Nuts

 

"There is a crispness in the air as mother bear drinks in the morning's deep flavorful aromas. Other than the spoor of a distant white-tail, her senses are keen on the bounty that awaits her and her cubs. For today they shall feast on the fruits of the mighty oak."

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The fall season is fast approaching for our ursine friends. It is a time when many animals begin to gorge themselves on high-calorie food items in preparation for a long harsh winter. In the technical world, nerds like me often refer to this time as hyperphagia. The term is biological jargon that, in Greek, means excessive hunger or increased appetite. Since very few of us speak Greek, I shall refer to it in normal speak and call it what most lay people refer to as the "fall shuffle". And don't worry, I don't expect many folks to speak Latin either, so if you are wondering what our "ursine" friends are, they of course are members of the wonderful family of bears.

There is nothing better than the beauty of fall in the mountains.

I have always loved the fall, not because my favorite sport, hockey, is soon to start (you probably thought I was going to say football....NOT, I like my sports more manly!), but rather because the changing season signifies a time when the outdoors come alive. It is a time when days afield are most glorious. Not only is the weather conducive for all-day hikes but mostly because many animals change their feeding patterns in preparation for wintertime and therefore, become quite visible to the observant outdoorsman... none more so than bears.

The fall shuffle is an opportune time to view the ever-starved wild black bear. Simply look for a treasure trove of acorns, white oak acorns to be exact, and sooner or later they will be vacuumed up by our scent-driven friends. But what if you have the oxymoronic "wild-captive" bear in your charge? How do you supply their preferred food?

Simple...

You capitalize on the passionate hearts of those who love bears the most... KIDS!

It never ceased to amaze me how simple it was to acquire food for orphaned cubs. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I have evidence that confirms a picture of a cub is worth a thousand acorns!

Before the advent of social media and far-reaching pleas for assistance I had to rely on more clever tricks to acquire natural foods for the bears. One of my more ingenious tricks not only gathered thousands of pounds of nuts but it also cost the bear center a whopping $1.75 to run the entire program.

Whenever I would begin to run low on my acorn supply I would simply place a call to one of the local elementary schools and ask if they'd be interested in someone coming in to talk to their students about black bears. Never once were we turned down. This is were ingenuity became my best friend.

Prior to visiting a school I would stop at a local gift store and purchase a handful of "bear" postcards. Given the fact that we operated just outside Great Smoky Mountain National Park, postcards were not only easy to come by but a variety of bear pictures was easy to acquire. With cards in hand, ABR props in tow, and a wealth of knowledge to share with the kids I would make my rounds at the various schools.

"Speed Bump," a retired ABR puppet, never failed to capture the kids attention.

I can't tell you what a joy and blessing it was to teach wide-eyed school children of all ages about one of my favorite topics of all...black bears. And then, with teacher approval, I would draw a postcard from my back pocket and ask the kids if they'd be willing to help us feed the cubs at the bear center. They would all gasp in excitement.

I would then present the postcard and say, "Whoever can collect the most acorns over the next week will get a signed postcard from one of our cubs!"

The gasps and shrieks of excitement were rampant.

Inevitably the time would drag by as I waited for the week to pass but upon my return, I was never disappointed. In fact, one teacher had called me and said, "You better be bringing a pick-up truck because I have bags of acorns spilling out my classroom!"

I kinda think she may have been a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring. ;)

One child in particular caught my attention, in fact I made sure her story made the local newspaper. The sweet little blonde first grader didn't bring in a wheelbarrow full of nuts. She didn't even bring in a half-full grocery bag. Nope. She came up to me and presented me with a Kleenex with two tiny little acorns in it. It was her story that melted me. She had told me she went home the day I came to talk to her class anxious to gather nuts to help feed the bears. Unfortunately she became upset when she discovered the tree in her yard was not bearing fruit. Feeling sorry for her daughter, her mother drove her to Memaw's house in hopes of finding food for the bears. Much to her chagrin, Memaw's oak tree was also lean on acorns. She did however, manage to find two small half-ripened acorns tucked under some fallen leaves. So she wrapped them up in a Kleenex she had crumpled in her pocket.

Needless to say, a special little cub sent that sweet little girl a heartfelt "Thank You" postcard that very afternoon.