CULLMAN, Ala. – Bear hunting fever is sweeping the Cullman community! Young hunters, armed with cameras and getting a little grown-up help behind the wheel, are breaking the quarantine monotony by searching neighborhoods around town and across the county for plush teddy bears of all shapes and sizes, then posting their finds to the Cullman Bear Hunt Facebook page (www.facebook.com/groups/2857657737685105/).
Directions on the page instruct:
“Join the fun! If you’d like to participate, simply place a stuffed bear in a window of your home so when families go for car rides or walks during this quarantine, they can hunt for bears! Communities around the nation are participating in bear hunts for the little ones to enjoy! Have some fun with your family while you practice social distancing!”
Tonya Hall saw friends participating in similar activities in other parts of the state, and decided to give it a try. She set up the social media group just last Friday, and by Monday, saw the membership skyrocket to almost 600.
On Sunday evening, Hall told The Tribune, “Between my senior getting the news that we don’t know when graduation will be, and my 11-year-old finding out sixth grade is over, and my oldest having to drive cross-country back from law school, last week has been kind of a rough week. I just said I’m either going to have to get off social media or I’m going to have to do something to see some joy.
“I started that group Friday afternoon, and I just added a few friends. And today (Sunday evening) there’s like 470-something people in it. Buena Vista’s got a bear, Southern Eats has got a bear in the window, Frio’s has got a bear in the window. It’s just been funny just to see, over the weekend, people that have driven by our house- we live over by the high school- and that have taken a picture here.
“You may not be able to go ‘out-out,’ but it’s definitely a creative way to get the kids out!”
“You know, everybody’s always saying that kids are- too much screen time, too much TV- and I think, if anything, this social distancing has caused us to look for other ways to engage the kids, keep them active. We live by the high school, and there’s always people walking, but I have seen so many families walking that I feel like I’ve never seen before. I feel like they’ve been in quarantine for the two years that we’ve lived here; I’ve never seen them before: dogs that I’ve never seen out being walked.
“Since it is based on the book ‘(We’re) Going on a Bear Hunt,’ maybe the kids will read the book or find some other activity besides TVs or screen time during this time, that it doesn’t always have to be a gadget or a $50 outing.”
Bears are appearing in windows and on porches, hanging out by mailboxes and in front of local businesses. While most of the bear hunting is happening around Cullman, bears are also beginning to turn up across the county in places like Hanceville, Good Hope, West Point, Welti and Baileyton.
Hall shared, “My family thought I was nuts! They were like, ‘What are you doing?’ because I went and stuck a bear between our storm door and our front door, and I said, ‘We’re having a bear hunt in Cullman.’ They literally thought I was nuts!
“That’s okay. It’s been a welcome distraction. The little girl that found 24 bears today, when they stopped (here) today, my husband was in the driveway, and he said, ‘Tonya, there’s somebody out there taking a picture of your bear!’ I said, ‘See, that’s cute!’”
Get in on the fun at www.facebook.com/groups/2857657737685105/.
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