Post by Seminole on Jul 2, 2004 3:20:51 GMT -5
I have been running a post on several forums and I recently ran across this board.
I thought I would post it here in the hopes of finding some others who have heard of this" legend/myth", or might have an explanation for it.
Any insight appreciated.
Here it is:
Puzzle Of The Honey Bear
_____________________
I was born and raised in the industrial midlands of North Carolina.On my mother's side I had many aunts and uncles born in the time peroid of 1900-1920 in the western North Carolina Appalachian mountains.
One day I was talking to an uncle married to one of my mother's sisters about life "back in the hills" when he was much younger.The conversation somehow turned to bears.The only species native to the area I know of is the black bear(Ursa americanus).My uncle raised my eyebrows when he mentioned hunting not only the black bear but another kind he called a honey bear.
He told me they looked just like a "regular" bear but never got any larger than a beagle hunting dog and also that their fur was the color of honey...thus the name.Now I have always been an avid outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast and this tale didn't make the least bit of sense to me. In fact,I thought he was pulling my leg.I decided he wasn't fooling as he started to get a bit angry and defensive when I appeared to question what he was telling me.
Now ,I know there is a cinnamon color variation of the black bear and these occur mostly in the western U.S. and Canada but the odd specimen turns up anywhere the black bear is found. Still, this could not account for my uncle's honey bears because he felt they were rather common and the odds of him running across cinnamon colored black bear cubs(to account for the small size) was highly improbable.
My next thought was that he was describing some kind of other animal and confusing it with a bear.Further delicate questioning on the subject ruled out this possibility.He was adamant that honey bears were just like black bears(he called them regular bears) only much smaller and honey colored.
Before I let the subject drop I just had to ask where I might go and see one for myself. He looked at me curiously and flatly stated "you can't,there ain't no more....they disappeared."
Latter as I had the opportunity to discuss this with other aunts and uncles(blood kin and married) of this generation I was intrigued to find that all of them seemed to have the same knowledge of honey bears. All gave similar descriptions of the animals(I even got ancedotes on how to cook the critters so the knowledge was firsthand) and most told me how there were no more as they had disappeared! I have run across some other nonrelated people of that peroid in time ,who were born and grew up in the mountains, and they too confirmed this story. I have also questioned others who had no idea of what I was talking about.
An un-urban legend? Who knows? I have never run across anything in print that would remotely account for honey bears-even as a legend. I remain highly skeptical but darned curious about how to explain honey bear memories.
I thought I would post it here in the hopes of finding some others who have heard of this" legend/myth", or might have an explanation for it.
Any insight appreciated.
Here it is:
Puzzle Of The Honey Bear
_____________________
I was born and raised in the industrial midlands of North Carolina.On my mother's side I had many aunts and uncles born in the time peroid of 1900-1920 in the western North Carolina Appalachian mountains.
One day I was talking to an uncle married to one of my mother's sisters about life "back in the hills" when he was much younger.The conversation somehow turned to bears.The only species native to the area I know of is the black bear(Ursa americanus).My uncle raised my eyebrows when he mentioned hunting not only the black bear but another kind he called a honey bear.
He told me they looked just like a "regular" bear but never got any larger than a beagle hunting dog and also that their fur was the color of honey...thus the name.Now I have always been an avid outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast and this tale didn't make the least bit of sense to me. In fact,I thought he was pulling my leg.I decided he wasn't fooling as he started to get a bit angry and defensive when I appeared to question what he was telling me.
Now ,I know there is a cinnamon color variation of the black bear and these occur mostly in the western U.S. and Canada but the odd specimen turns up anywhere the black bear is found. Still, this could not account for my uncle's honey bears because he felt they were rather common and the odds of him running across cinnamon colored black bear cubs(to account for the small size) was highly improbable.
My next thought was that he was describing some kind of other animal and confusing it with a bear.Further delicate questioning on the subject ruled out this possibility.He was adamant that honey bears were just like black bears(he called them regular bears) only much smaller and honey colored.
Before I let the subject drop I just had to ask where I might go and see one for myself. He looked at me curiously and flatly stated "you can't,there ain't no more....they disappeared."
Latter as I had the opportunity to discuss this with other aunts and uncles(blood kin and married) of this generation I was intrigued to find that all of them seemed to have the same knowledge of honey bears. All gave similar descriptions of the animals(I even got ancedotes on how to cook the critters so the knowledge was firsthand) and most told me how there were no more as they had disappeared! I have run across some other nonrelated people of that peroid in time ,who were born and grew up in the mountains, and they too confirmed this story. I have also questioned others who had no idea of what I was talking about.
An un-urban legend? Who knows? I have never run across anything in print that would remotely account for honey bears-even as a legend. I remain highly skeptical but darned curious about how to explain honey bear memories.