Bartholomew the Vegetarian Bear

The text arrives in the morning as I'm driving into Jackson. "A bear got into the kitchen". Did I read that correctly? Let me try again. "A bear got into the kitchen". Oh. Alright then.

It's the end of June and everyone is on break. Only three people stayed on base: Nicole, Sophie and Christy. Sophie was the one who sent the text.

A bear. She must be kidding.

I call to hear the dirty details. What I am told is this:

Christy woke up around 8AM. Grabbing her shower things, she walked up to the covered dining area and was greeted by trail mix strewn out across the ground. Looking in the kitchen, she noticed more bags of trail mix knocked off the shelf, the deer on the floor and the kitchen window open with the screen torn out. She thought some sort of small animal must have gotten into the kitchen. Then she noticed the screen torn off of the shower door, the claw marks on the post outside and the big prints of the bear trying to climb out of the kitchen window. Next thing she knew, she was face to face with Bartholomew the Vegetarian Bear. She rushed into the bathroom and stayed there for awhile, safe and sound.

The bear guys came and set a trap. They hung meat as the bait. I asked why they didn't put some trail mix in there because obviously that is what he's interested in. He is so polite, not taking any food but the trail mix and making sure he ate it out in the dining area to avoid a mess in the kitchen. He even tried to eat a box of funfetti cake mix, but soon realized it wasn't good for his diet.

The trap stayed up for two days, but obviously, it did not work. Bartholomew was still on the loose.

The bear men came again and greeted me in the kitchen one morning. "Make sure you carry your pepper spray. It's likely that you will be the one who is attacked since you are awake before everyone else and you are around the food." I'll keep that in mind.

A week later, Bartholomew was back. It was the night of the lightning storm. The teams had just arrived back from being out on the field. The sky was bright with flashing streaks of light. The campers were panicked, rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off. Tucker and I were in the kitchen when both of our phones beeped with a text from Elle: "Bear headed your way". Tucker opened the kitchen door and told Nicole loudly, "The bear is on his way up here." The children went crazy. Mackenzi and some of her boys saw the bear when they were next to their tent. It started charging them and Mackenzi couldn't reach the zipper to her tent, but she got it right in time.

Bartholomew left defeated.

The following morning, I was in the kitchen making breakfast. I had woken up late and was very focused on getting my task done in a timely fashion. I heard a clatter and some thumping at the side window, but I figured it was one of the campers trying to make goofy faces at me and I didn't have time for that this morning. I ignored the noise. Then the noise started at the larger window, where Bartholomew had made his entrance on his first visit. Again, I ignored the disturbance. Twenty minutes later, Colter knocked on the glass. The expression on his face told me something was wrong. I opened the door.

"What's up," I asked.

"Was this screen on the ground when you arrived this morning?"

I looked down at the porch. The window screen was bent out of shape and completely distorted. "No," I responded. Bartholomew was back for more trail mix and I didn't even notice.

Nicole and I saw him the next evening, cruising next to the office. Occasionally he will leave little reminders that he is alive and well. So far, no injuries or casualties. Hopefully, it stays that way.