Friday, February 04, 2011

Fun Friday: Bear vs. The Ice Age Beast

At first glance, this video may seem staged, but here's the honest truth ... no, really, I mean it.

Weeks ago we had some company. In the mix of relatives were some delightful little girls who spent the day outside playing, getting dirty, using their imaginations, and generally just being kids.

One of the things (among many) that they "found" in the yard was a toy "that squirrelly critter" from the Ice Age movies.

You know the one who is always chasing the acorn?

It was in a pile of stuff that was scheduled to get tossed out, but they found it and apparently played with it.


I picked up after they went home, and I thought I had found everything.

I had not.

Unknown to me, the girls had discovered a barrel filled with gravel that sits buried up to it's neck by the edge of the woods. It used to be a component in a grey water system I designed, but it now sits, dormant, waiting for me to extract it.

Apparently their game involved tossing old toys into the barrel ... perhaps they were playing some kind of Maya cenote game ... I just don't know.

I do know this much ... in the barrel, along with tennis balls, an old toy horse, and some bits of lattice, they had tossed the old electronic Ice Age toy, "Scrat"( ... okay, I looked it up on Wiki and his name is Scrat and he's a 'sabertoothed squirrel".)

So, (are you still with me or are you down there watching the Bear video?) ... "Scrat" apparently got wet from some recent rains and activated himself.

When I stepped out to walk Bear on the day of the video, I saw a Barred owl fly up from the rim of the barrel.
He didn't go far, so I turned on the video feature of my Sony camera as Bear and I stepped off the porch.

What happened next is all on the video.

Up until the point where I could actually peer into the barrel, I thought I was going to find some real animal that had fallen in.
Between the owl's interest, Bear's obvious interest, and the weird sounds that were coming from the barrel, I thought sure I was going to find a baby 'possum, bird, ... SOMETHING flesh and blood.

But no, it was only a toy with an electrical short.







13 comments:

Julie Zickefoose said...

Charlie the macaw climbed down off my shoulder to watch this video. He cackled and hollered, especially when Bear freaked out when Scrat squalled. Thanks for the belly laugh for both of us. A nice break from painting! It's nice to have a pet that responds to 2-D images. You can't get a dog to watch a video.

SophieMae said...

THANKS EVER SO! I really needed that out loud laugh today!

Carol said...

So nice that Bear was willing to help keep the camera clean..LOL

amarkonmywall said...

Sophie just watched this with great interest- twice. Or listened- I can't tell which. In any case, she climbed onto my laptop and miaowed. Thanks to Bear I'm going to have cat hair down in the keyboard. Goofy dog. Of course, only at PF are there old barrels with such odd things.

Darla said...

That is too funny. I literally jumped when Bear barked the first time. The Bear slobber was great too.

Dani said...

Hehehe. I just love Bear.

Unknown said...

LOL Love and miss you both!!!

R.Powers said...

Julie,
I am picturing you painting with a huge Macaw on your shoulder.
How ?


Sophie,
I passed that along to Bear.


Carol,
He's very useful to have around.


Vicki,
Cats and parrots seem to appreciate a silly video. I have fried chicken crumbs in my keyboard.

Darla,
He is so gentle, but his bark is pretty impressive. And of course, he's a master at slobber.

Dani,
He is so huggable. A real armful.


Emma,
Miss you baby. Especially today walking him along the banks of the Suwannee. Love you.

kathy a. said...

oh, tooo funny! if i hadn't long ago finally rid the house of furbies, i'd send them over to give bear and the owls some more entertainment. there was one trip with 4 girls, each bearing a furby, where i had to pull off the freeway and put them all in the trunk [the furbies, not the girls, but don't think that wasn't tempting at that moment] because the furbies were talking to each other.

R.Powers said...

Kathy,
LOL! That would be pretty weird. My kids were old enough by then that I never had the Furby experience.

cinbad122 said...

I miss Bear!

dan m said...

i have a datil pepper plant but the buds fall off before they can produce peppers. i lie in texas near austin. what am i doing wrong .My friend in florida said he had the same problem when he lived in texas. Now that he is in florida the plants produce without any problem

R.Powers said...

Dan,
Cool evenings can stop the flowering.