And all three of them involved birds and wildlife in some way.
Fair warning, today’s edition of Feathered Photography will be a huge change of pace. No photos of birds or other wildlife are included and it’s all quite personal but for me at least it does have a connection to my interest in and passion for animals and some of the things I include make me feel introspective and extremely aware of my mortality. I think you’ll see why.
Despite that sweet smile I was a terror as a little kid. I was constantly on the go, getting into trouble at every turn and I wouldn’t nap so my mother never had a break. This photo was taken professionally in town (Cut Bank, Montana) probably in 1948 when I was about 2 years old. I simply refused to cooperate for the photographer so my dad, knowing I was fascinated by hand tools even at that age, ran out to the car and grabbed a pair of needle-nosed pliars for me to play with while the photographer snapped away.
- Side story: My dad wasn’t very happy with my mother when this photo was taken because earlier that morning she had given me a permanent for the photo shoot. Those curls aren’t natural. For that reason I always hated this photo while I was growing up. I only include it here as an introduction to my generally uncontrollable behavior as a young boy.
At the time we lived in a very small house on the family farm. As you see it had a fence around the yard but it was mostly intended to keep the Indian cattle out of our yard during winter when they run free (our farm is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation). But during summer the fence had no gates and there’s a creek nearby just out of frame to the right that posed a huge danger for someone like me.
So my folks rigged up a fail-safe system to keep me safe in the yard and out of the creek. They put me in a harness with what we always called “clothesline rope” attached to the harness at one end and to something else at the other end to keep me from wandering. That’s me on the left with my little friend Jimmy Hill playing with a lawn sprinkler. Jimmy was my age and his folks liked the idea so well they copied it and bought him his own harness.
Not long after this photo was taken my folks and I along with some family friends including their young son my age (Robbie Humes I believe but it could have been Jimmy) drove to the nearby mountains to spend a pleasant day at Table Bay on Flathead Lake. The put both of us in harnesses and tied the ropes to trees to keep us out of the water as we endlessly threw rocks into the lake which fascinated us immensely. When it began to rain lightly all four adults retreated to the car very close to the water so they could keep an eye on us as we continued to play near the water.
Suddenly one of our parents in the car looked up to see an adult black bear that had come out of the thick trees and was so close to us little kids that mom thought we were already doomed – the bear was within just a few feet of us. My dad honked the horn and then both fathers scrambled out of the car and without thinking rushed the bear as they hollered. Thankfully the bear retreated and we were rescued but it could have gone either way.
That was my first experience with bears, the first of quite a few. I was too young to remember the incident now but I sure heard the story a lot growing up. My mom often reminded me of how delicious two little toddlers must have looked to a hungry bear.
A couple of years later when this photo was taken in my favorite cowboy outfit I was still a little terror. They weren’t putting me in the harness anymore but I was still supposed to stay in the yard and I was old enough that I should have been able to be (mostly) trusted to do so.
But that early summer when the creek was flooded by runoff migrating ducks flocked to it in fairly large numbers and I was absolutely fascinated by those quackers. So, you guessed it, one day I sneaked out of the yard and went down to the widest part of the creek where the ducks congregated to check them out. It was still pretty cold (after all, this is Montana) so I had fairly heavy clothes on. I have no memory of the incident but somehow I ended up in the creek and floundering. At that age I didn’t even know how to dog paddle and all those heavy clothes were dragging me down.
By chance (a very, very long chance way out in the country like that) a friend of the family, Harvey Ehlert, happened to be driving down the hill on the dirt road to our house and noticed me face down in the water. In a panic he parked his car on the road, ran down the slope to the creek and pulled me out of the water by the scruff of the neck. I recovered quickly so apparently I didn’t swallow much water but my mom kept an eagle eye on me after that, for much too long if you had asked me while I was growing up.
Photo by Dany Boutin in Public Domain
This is Waterton Lakes National Park, a Canadian park just over the border in Alberta and adjacent to Glacier National Park (the mountains in the far distance are actually in GNP). Like Glacier, this park was almost like a second home to me because my mother was Canadian and grew up in the small town of Glenwood just a few miles away from Waterton. If you’re familiar with Waterton this photo was taken from the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel.
One summer soon after the Fourth of July when I was perhaps 10-11 years old a small group of us cousins and friends of about the same age hiked the relatively short Bear’s Hump Trail just out of frame to the right. On our way back down we spotted a mama black bear with at least one cub in the thick vegetation perhaps 100′ below us at the bottom of a steep incline. By this age I’d seen a good number of bears in both Glacier and Waterton so I was familiar with them and none of us were particularly concerned because to us the steep incline seemed like an effective barrier between us and the bears and they weren’t paying any attention to us anyway. We thought.
But then things got ugly. One of the kids on the group (I honestly can’t remember who it was) pulled a firecracker out of their pocket, lit it and threw it down the incline toward the bears. When the firecracker went off mama bear charged us in an instant, coming up that incline so fast it seemed like it must be downhill instead of steeply up. Seeing her coming at us that fast scared the poop out of all of us. In a panic everyone took off running down the narrow trail but I started out behind everyone else so I was the bear’s obvious target. I looked back only twice. The first time mama bear was on the trail directly behind me and coming fast so I was literally scared to death and turned on whatever afterburner I had as a runner. I was in such a panic I was extremely lucky I didn’t stumble and fall on the rough trail.
The second time I looked back she was nowhere to be seen. Apparently she’d abandoned the chase and returned to her cub(s). All of us made it back to the Waterton township safely but it was a long time before we ever told any adults about it. Damn, kids can be stupid.
So there you have it, my three brushes with death as a young boy. As an adult I often think of them and how close I came to not having a future. And all three of them involved birds and wildlife in some manner, the very things that sustain me today.
I find that ironic.
Ron
Oh yes, I had a cowgirl outfit with the same fringes, I think because of the popularity of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. I had a holster and cap guns, too! That was a very scary encounter that you had with the bears. Never had an attack, thank god, but once when I was at the tail of a ride, newly hired, I saw a bear 10-15 feet from the trail standing up on its hind legs, sniffing. One fellow had stopped to take a photo and I warned him, sternly, “Sir, I am not going to be a hero, so get moving!” I was on another trail ride in the Rockies as a customer and saw animals way up above us moving parallel to our group. It turned out to be an adult wolverine and cubs. That scared me and I was on edge the whole time until they wandered away in a different direction. In our younger years it was my brother, oh brother!
Why would you guys throw fire crackers at animals…..? Smh
Because one of us was a stupid young kid, just as I said in my post.
Apparently you never did anything stupid when you were a kid…
So glad you are still here, Ron!
Me too, Shelley. Thanks.
What an outstanding post!! I just loved reading about your childhood!
Although my growing up was in a much more suburban setting, I had many of the same adventures, but unlike you, nobody was watching out for me. I had almost no adult supervision, no tether as a toddler and so I got into a LOT of trouble as a kid! While staying at my grandmother’s place, I did have a German shepherd babysitter who was determined to keep me safe and throttled me when I got close to danger, so there was that! She began my life long passion for dogs. I made it through childhood and scraped through my adolescence. I’m now thankful there was no social media in those days, but some of the scrapes I got into could have turned deadly in a heartbeat.
Although my father wasn’t around much when I was growing up (he worked several jobs to keep up with my mother’s spending), he’s the one who gave me my love of critters. One time traveling through the Smokey Mountains, we stopped to look at the vista, got back in the car, but my dad needed to throw his empty cigarette pack in the garbage can. Halfway there, a big black bear came out of nowhere! My dad stopped, calmly held out his flat hand as the bear stood to face him. He remained calm and let the bear smell the empty cigarette pack. Finding nothing to eat, the bear stood down and continued on his way looking for food. I guess that was my first lesson in don’t panic!
Oh and I had the same perms! HATED those!
Thanks, Laura. I remember the awful smell of those home perms when my mom would use that stuff on herself and eventually on my sister. Nasty stuff. If it wasn’t too cold outside I’d always leave the house to avoid the smell.
This post explains SOOOOO much! You were quite the stinker! 😉 The pictures of you are too adorable for words (permanent, not withstanding).
Sure glad you made it out of these predicaments. I’ve had a couple of “up close and personals” with wildlife, though have yet to be chased.
Thanks, Marty. That’s the only time I remember being chased (I’m sure I wouldn’t forget something like that).
I love these stories! Amazing the close calls some of us had! I loved my cowgirl outfit! Even slept with the red boots…..take them off? No way! I’ve stood where that photo was taken. I saw posters in that little community below warning parents to not leave their children unattended because of mountain lions. And when we crossed that small part of the lake and hiked up on the trails, we saw grizzlies crossing a feeder waterfall/creek down below. Breathtaking and memorable!
Waterton is an amazing place, Lynette. Canada runs their National Parks differently than we do but it sure has worked for them at Waterton.
Loved the stories. Be advised: Bears can run uphill very fast because their hind legs are longer than their front legs. Supposedly this puts them at a disadvantage running downhill, but I wouldn’t count on it!
Thanks, Aimee.
Glad you managed to survive sl,3 near fatalities–especially the one with the bear behind😏
Thanks, Patty. Personally I’m glad I survived all three of them!
I am unsurprised that your passion for wildlife started early. Or even that you were a difficult child. Sigh on the permanent. I have a photo of my partner when he was two or three. The outfit his parents had put him in included a bow tie. They LOVED that photo. He hates it, and I am in complete agreement. Water was my downfall. Before I could walk I simply crawled into it (and kept crawling). And then I jumped. Parenting is not an easy job – regardless of the species. And, speaking of firecrackers, my brothers trick was to insert the bungers into crusted over (and soft inside) cow manure.
“Parenting is not an easy job”
That’s for sure. And being a kid like I was sure didn’t make it any easier.
I used to pull that cow pie trick with firecrackers too, EC. And a lot of other things…
I was the same type of kid. Very active, hated naps, and wanted to explore. When I turned 21 my Aunt gave me a birthday card that read “Congratulations on turning 21. I never thought you would make it” Are we related? lol
Yup, sounds like me, Jean.
What age and years did you live in Santa Rita next door to us? I remember the photo albums your mom got for us when you went to California! Do you remember?
Yes
Hi Barbara, No I don’t remember the photo albums.
I don’t remember the exact years we lived in Santa Rita but a guess would be something like 1950-56. But sometimes we lived there only in the winter, spending summers on the farm.
I love the shot of you and your buddy all leashed up.
And your friend with the firecracker, why is there one like him everywhere you go?
It’s a wild world out there.
Dave, every time I look at that photo it reminds me of what we always did with my horse Star. At the time our pasture wasn’t fenced so we staked her out down by the creek in the lush grass. I used to tease my mom that she staked me out just like I was a common farm animal… 🙂
That’s just too good!
Ron, your stories reminded me of my days growing up on a farm in Minnesota. There were 4 of us, 3 older girls and a boy the youngest. We certainly didn’t have the opportunities you had for getting in trouble but managed to get a few spankings [probably for jumping on the bed so hard that it fell to the floor]!! Thank you for the great post
Alice, there were three of us, I had two younger sisters, but it was me who was always pushing the envelope (if you know what I mean… 🙂 )
All there is to it, it wasn’t your time! Just my take! Great post, many thanks!
Been to Glacier on both sides of the border, matter of fact spent a little bit of time on the US side, less on the Canadian side. Just beautiful country, loved it out there! Saw quite a few bear diggings and scratchings while in the back country of the park, but didn’t see a bear during our stay there. However, did a ton of whistling and loud talking while walking on the trails.
I have to admit my mother put me in a harness when I was very young – not going to admit to nothin!!!!!! VBG!
Dick, few people who have been to Glacier ever forget it. And back then it wasn’t crowded like it is today so it was wonderful to have it almost in my back yard.
I see nothing wrong with your mother giving you a permanent before a picture session. She wanted to show off her cute little son and maybe give pictures to the relatives. I think you were very cute at that age. I don’t remember how I was kept from wondering off, as I grew up next to a large canal. It did not carry much water most of the time, but remember some times it was pretty full. The tunnel it ran thru under a street would plug with branches. I sure don’t remember any scary things happened, other than my sister, 2 years younger, did fall in a hole in the creek at a camp ground. She could have been about 6 years old. I am glad you lived thru the bear attacks and other dangers you came across as a young child.
“I see nothing wrong with your mother giving you a permanent before a picture session”
Arggh, I hated that she did that to me, Trudy. I’m not particularly happy about it to this day, even though I know she did it out of love.
Loved your post today. It’s amazing how we survived as kids❗️ When I think of the many close calls I had swimming in the Pacific Ocean 😳 and my mom still let me go back in❗️
Have a “safe” day😁
Thanks, Diana. I had a close call or two in the Pacific too, at La Jolla cove when we lived in SoCal. But by then I was in junior high.
A permanent? I don’t blame your dad for being mad. Helluva thing to do to a young boy.
Despite your near death experiences as a youngster (I would have to wait for my teens and early twenties for my stupid stunts) I envy your upbringing on a farm. You probably hated it at times like all kids get bored with their circumstances, but I’ll bet you gained knowledge and skills and experiences that us suburban kids couldn’t imagine.
“I don’t blame your dad for being mad. Helluva thing to do to a young boy”
I don’t blame him either, Lyle – not one bit.
Dad saved my ass more than once. When I was born mom wanted to name me Donald. He put his foot down, saying it was too much like Donald Duck. And with our current “President” I’ll be forever grateful that he stuck to his guns.
And I never hated living on the farm (at least until I was old enough to have to work in the fields). It was a magical place to grow up and I loved it out there.
Hear, hear! It absolutely was!!!
Neat post of your past growing up in Montana, Ron! It is amazing at how some of us survived our younger years. With that being said, I do think that these kinds of experiences are actually good and help develop people for challenges throughout their lives. Nowadays, it seems many young kids are too sheltered, not only from the experiences in the great outdoors but also from social interaction (…but that digression is a thick volume in its own).
The old photos are great to see. You grew up in some wild country. Thanks for sharing!
You’re right, Ed. Most kids today would be lost growing up on a farm. Eeuw, there’s some cow poop! – that kind’a thing. But for those of us who survived I think it was a huge advantage. And besides, it was a blast!
I love these posts about your past in Montana! And of course the old photographs are wonderful – they bring the stories to life. Thanks so much for sharing – you were living in the wild wild west compared to my relatively tame upbringing in Eastern Massachusetts.
“you were living in the wild wild west compared to my relatively tame upbringing”
Joanne, even I think it was a little “wild” when I look back on it today. But 70 years ago it was definitely a different time, in a lot of ways.
Just laughing 🤣 and shaking my head! I also wore a harness and leash – bad enough to just run off (of course we were in town) BUT I also liked to shed clothes and “streak”….😜 Why any of us (I’m the oldest of 6)lived to grow up is amazing like that tho it was to do with bicycles and “hiking” down to Giant Springs – about 5 miles down a 2 lane road (paved) with steep hill and playing in the springs leading to the river as well as climbing on some “cliffs” near there. Also the assorted tree and roof adventures – I’m sure my brothers have many more tales……! Folks who are horrified by the harness and leash thing have obviously never had a kid like that!
“Folks who are horrified by the harness and leash thing have obviously never had a kid like that!”
That’s exactly right, Judy. I don’t blame my folks one bit for that harness and rope. In fact I’m grateful. If they hadn’t done it, and done it often, I very likely wouldn’t be here today.
Quite the history you have! Some children are more curious than others and seems you were one of those. I do believe parents have to be very inventive in ways of keeping their ‘more curious and explorative children’ safe. We harnessed up our middle son (to my clothes line run) when he was young for that very reason. I remember some neighbors thought we were a little extreme but Aaron would wander off so easily following natural curiosity. Having a river and railroad near the backyard didn’t help. Glad to see you made it through all the perils. 🙂
Yup, I was definitely curious. That combined with my habit of doing whatever I wanted no matter what my folks said was a bad combination.
When that Mama Bear got back to her cubs, they probably all had a good hearty bear laugh. “Did you see those human kids run? I scared em real bad. That one last on the trail thought for sure I was going to eat him. I bet they are all having to change their pants now.” More out of control bear laughter.
Bradley, there’s only been one other time I’ve been that scared in my life (72 years). That Waterton bear got my attention.
Good gravy! You were a terror. Lol that last one was scary to read. Glad you weren’t bear bait!
“Good gravy! You were a terror”
Arwen, what I’ve described about my behavior as a very young boy is only the tip of the iceberg.