The Bears of Lover's Leap

Tourists visiting the scenic Lover's Leap Overlook in Patrick County will not only see one of the most spectacular views anywhere but they may see a bear or two as well. Many bear sightings have been reported at nearby Fred Clifton Park where the hungry bruins have ravaged trash cans in search of food and scraps left by picnickers. The bears have become such a problem that the Patrick County Recreation Department is sending workers to the park two to three times per week to clean up the litter and debris left by the bears and to repair damage to park facilities. Just up U.S. 58 at Henrietta Crafters, aka Lover's Leap Birdhouses, at least 7 different bears have been sighted and photographed. The bears of Lover's Leap have become such a spectacle that videos of them have been posted on YouTube, where you can watch them reacting to a sprinkler system, eating peaches from a tree (this bear has appropriately been nicknamed "Peaches"), raid bird feeders, and stand on their hind legs. You weblink is www.youtube.com/user/loversleapbirdhouses.

"There are a bunch of bears", said Patrick County Recreation Director Clyde Crissman in a recent telephone interview on my morning talk show "Community Conversation" on WHEO Radio. Crissman estimated that some of them weigh over 500 pounds. "Someone is going to get hurt if they don't do something about" these bears, Crissman added.

Several other WHEO talk show callers have warned citizens to beware of the bears, especially at Fred Clifton Park, located adjacent to Lover's Leap in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Patrick County. One citizen told me recently that a family picnic was recently prematurely ended when a tourist advised the husband, wife, and their children that there was a black bear behind a tree just feet from the picnic table where they had just spread their meal. The family hastily departed but not before taking a photo of the intruder.

In an effort to thwart efforts by the bears to raid the trash cans at the park, Patrick County officials are trying to develop a bear-proof garbage can but concede that it may be a futile effort. Dr. Lock Boyce, a Patrick County veterinarian and county supervisor, recently suggested on his weekly radio show that relocation of the bears may be the only long-term solution to the problem.

Not only are the pesky bears wreaking havoc at the Fred Clifton Park, a public park facility, but they are also causing damage to crops and gardens of private residences in the mountaintop area. One irate resident of Vesta called my radio show Monday, Aug. 10th, to report that bears have ravaged the family corn crop causing extensive damage to the family's garden. This caller also asked Dr. Boyce, my regular Monday morning guest, if compensation is available from the county for damage caused by bears. No such financial relief is available in for losses caused by bears, the disappointed caller was informed.

One benefit of the increased bear sightings may be hightened tourist activity in the county. Some local officials and residents speculate that the more talk and media hoopla made about the bears the greater the chances that more curious visitors will be drawn to the county to see what was once a relatively rare sight...a bear in the wild.

And those are the bear...I mean...bare facts.

Blessings...
Richard Rogers