Diver Jr.

Diver Jr. is one of our loveable male bears. He isn't old enough or strong enough to take on Popeye or Lurch but he is quite a character. He has long gangly legs and a rather chunky stomach. It is said that he inherited his fathers fishing skills which is to run and then dive into the water to catch the fish. I here this works about 50% of the time. Tonight I got to see Diver Jr. in action.

Salmon will gather in pools in the river then all at once move at the same time. This causes the water to move looking as if it is boiling. The movement is called a fish boil. Of course this movement also causes noice and bears react to the noice in a very active way. So the first of many fish boils took place right in front of me in the river. Diver Jr. was about a quarter of a mile down stream As the boil began, he rose out of the water and ran towards the noice. It was amazing to see how fast this young bear could run. Then I saw the famous dive. No fish this time.

Diver Jr. may have inherited his fishing skills from his father but I am not sure where he got his running skills. Though he was fast his run was the weirdest run I had ever seen. He kind of ran leaning side to side with his paws moving in awkward angles. It is very hard to explain. Think of the dopiest run you cand think of and I am sure you'll be able to imagine Diver Jr. running. So there he goes again,running up the river then the ll body dive. To me it looks more like a belly flop. Then when he gets up with no fish he stands on his hind legs and looks around with this expression that says "Hay, where did the fish go?" I never laughed so hard in my life. This went on for about an hour. At no time did he ever catch a fish. After his hour of trying he rolled over on his back and just floated down the river out of sight. Just bouncing along with out a care in the world.