Teacher & Snacktime

Snacktime and I did a couple of short hikes in the Shenandoah National Park last month, and we decided that we needed to be prepared for a bear sighting. We figured that screaming and yelling might not be the best approach since it may not have the desired effect of scaring a bear off but instead might be considered aggressive. So we decided to sing aloud should one of us sight one, thus alerting the other to the presence without any sudden loud sound or action (assuming our slightly off-key attempts at melody wouldn't be too upsetting to the bear )

We borrowed the tune from a famous Rhode Islander (whom we happen to have been studying in our WWI unit), the one and only George M. Cohan. Feel free to claim this as your own should you be in the need of a bear alert, or just a great hiking cadence song.

To the tune of "Over There":

Over there, Over there
There's a bear, there's a bear, over there.
We were out here hiking,
yes, out here hiking
when all of a sudden it was there.
So beware,
Say a prayer,
There's a bear, there's a bear over there.
We'll be leaving,
Oh yes we're leaving,
and we won't come back while that bear is over there!

We practiced this loudly and vivaciously as we came down off Stony Man, much to the amusement of other passing hikers. But when we finally saw a bear (as we drove past MP68 on the Blue Ridge Parkway) did we remember to sing it? Of course not...we were too busy pointing and shouting " A BEAR A BEAR" and scrambling for the camera!

Oh well, maybe next time...or maybe we need to create a wild turkey song as we saw loads of those!