BEAR ON THE ROOF STORY
In the Fall of 1986, I had been videotaping a house on a ridge just outside of East Glacier Park. Someone had warned me that there were bears spotted in that area, so being quite the chicken when bears were involved, I asked a friend to go along. We completed the filming–didn’t see a bear or a trace of a bear — and headed back to town.
My husband, at the time, who had worked on a storage shed in our backyard until dark, had just left to go to a volunteer fire meeting. My five-year old daughter was staying over at a friend’s home. That left my two-year old daughter and me at home alone. We were in the living room when she looked out the big window and said, “Mommy, there’s a ‘goggie’ climbing on the house!” We had a huge black Newfoundland in the neighborhood, so I thought that was what she saw. I looked out the window and said, “That’s no ‘goggie’, that’s a bear.” And sure enough, it was climbing a tree right next to the house.
Fortunately, I had the video camera all set up from the earlier house filming, so I picked it up and from the safety of the living room window filmed the 100+ pound cinnamon black bear. It had finished climbing the tree and was now roaming around on the flat utility room roof. I phoned my mother-in-law, at the time, just to let someone know, so that she would be able to tell the story of what had happened to the mother and daughter who were eaten by the bear. (That’s why it’s always a good idea to have someone with you while hiking; so there can be a witness who can give the details to the press.)
Anyway, I told my mother-in-law that there was indeed a bear on the house. She was rather hard of hearing and kept saying “There’s a bear IN your house?” And in a slightly higher hysterical voice I kept reassuring her that the bear was ON my house. A few minutes later the bear came back into view on the roof and looked around. Then it very easily climbed half-way down the tree it had used to climb up, paused while it looked over its right shoulder and then over its left shoulder. When the bear figured the coast was clear, it finished climbing the rest of the way down. As it sauntered away, my then-brave two-year old said in a very firm voice, “Bear, get out of here!”
It went past the shed, over the fence, and on to something else.The only reason I could think of, when I was able to think a bit more clearly, that the bear would have wanted to climb on the roof was because I had made a spicy Mexican dish for dinner that night. (I guess I should rename that recipe BEAR ON THE ROOF casserole.) The aromas from this tasty dish might have leaked out the vent to the attic, which was right next to the flat utility roof.
Anyway, it was a very memorable event, and years later when I was thinking of names for my realty company, I liked the sound of Bear On The Roof Realty and so the name stuck. I do get lots of comments on it. People laugh at the possibility of “Bare” on the Roof Realty. Everyone has to ask how “bear” is spelled. And people seem to enjoy hearing the story of where the name came from.
My office is in my home near Midvale Creek in East Glacier Park, Montana. I can also be reached at P. O. Box 55, East Glacier Park, MT 59434 or by calling 406-226-5555 or by e-mail (click button below!).