Bear Spotted in The Valley

by I. B. Lyon

People are seeing bears all across Mississippi these days. The black bear population is thriving. Most bears are seen in southwest MS along the MS River, and they’re commonly seen in the coastal counties as well. But, one has made it’s way to Simpson County and The Valley, and people are going crazy over it.

A bear was spotted in Pinola yesterday. A young man fed it peanut butter, and he took multiple videos and pictures in close proximity to the bear. The post went viral on Facebook, and it had a ton of comments. A bear was also spotted in Mendenhall today. Now, the bear or possibly another bear has been spotted along the Strong River by some familiar folks- Johnny Riverrat, Willie Strong, and Billy Strong. These gentlemen have made the news a couple times previously, and now they’re back in the news.

These gentlemen love to spend time at the river fishing and drinking, and they happened to be there today when they encountered the bear. Riverrat said, “We all took the day off today to go fishing at the river. It’s been a while since we hung out down there. Billy heard something in the woods not too far from him. He looked over there, and there he was. A dang bear! He told us to look, and we couldn’t believe our eyes. We’d only drank a few beers, so we’re too far gone yet. We knew it was indeed a bear.”

According to the gentlemen, the bear came down to the river to get a drink and relax a bit. He was approximate 40 yards from them.

Riverrat added, “Willie had the bright idea of feeding him a couple bluegills. I told him that I wanted to cook those bad boys this evening for us. But, he walked closer to the bear, and he threw a couple bluegills his way. The bear slowly walked over to them, and he ate them. He took his time eating them. He was very well mannered. But, now we got catch a couple more for us.”

Riverrat also added, “Willie had the bright idea of getting a selfie with the bear, and I told him that he was crazy. That’s a dang wild animal man. But, that idiot did it, and it looked like the bear posed for him. It was crazy! I hope he’ll hang around. I’d like to see him again, but I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

There’s debate on whether everyone is seeing the same bear. Some think there are multiple bears. Who knows? Folks, be smart out there. Don’t feed the bear, and don’t try to take a selfie with him.