Remember this guy from Mother's Day? Well, it just so happens that K lives right next door to a member of the Bear Management Team! We were all chatting and I showed him my pics on the camera while saying, "I'm sure people show bear pictures to you all the time, but this guy passed my car at West Thumb on Mother's Day. He barely glanced at it and said, "Oh, that's Preacher!" Then he asked another ranger on the Bear Management Team to take a look and she agreed. I didn't post the fourth and blurry picture originally because it was blurry. But that actually helped those rangers to make certain that it is indeed Preacher.
Before I tell you why they named him Preacher, I need to let you know that K has informed me several times that all of the rangers learned in training that you just don't give names to wild animals! In fact, when I told him the name of my grizzly, the first thing the obedient fellow said back to me was, "We don't name the wildlife!" He's so good! But I guess the Bear Management Team has a special relationship with the bears because they observe them a ton and I guess he thought he could trust the ranger's wife to not spread a bad habit, so folks, you heard it here from me, WE DON'T NAME THE WILD ANIMALS AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK! They are wild and they will kill you and we need to respect them as wild animals doing their thing in their habitat.
So, Preacher has a collar. Not a real collar around his neck like a dog, but the color of his fur is a bit lighter around his neck, which reminded them of a clergyman. Also, the profile pic showcases Preacher's beard, which also nicely lended itself to the stereotypical Preacher Man image. The other thing is Preacher's ears. They said "no ears" which of course is wrong--he does have them. It's just that his don't stick up the same way as other bears...not as prominent.
Not that you care what I think, but Preacher is the most perfect name in my opinion because I was actually headed to Church in West Yellowstone that morning. I was late (still in the park when Church started) and I didn't know where the building was located. I was a little melancholy for various reasons and I suppose Heavenly Father knew I would think it a treat to meet this bear. He also knew I wasn't going to make it to Church, so he sent the Preacher to me instead! It makes me smile. What about you?
That is a cool "rest of the story" - as Paul Harvey would say. But I've gotta say - that last, blurry picture of the bear is pretty scary. Kind of freaked me out!
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