Recently, a neighbor stopped by to tell us a story. He lives just down the shore of Highland Lake from us, off Maple Street.

His daughter and family were visiting … swimming, waterskiing, cook-out. Later in the day, his daughter, Amy Brennan Tkaczyk, took a hike/run up a snowmobile trail that starts on Maple Street and ends on Tucker Mountain Road. She had her yellow lab, Tucker, with her.

About six minutes up the trail, they rounded a corner and came face to face with a black bear! Amy immediately “made herself big” and screamed loudly, and the bear retreated into the woods. Amy and Tucker turned around and began to run back down the way they had come, towards Maple Street.

After a few minutes, Amy turned around to look behind and saw that the bear was chasing them. So she and Tucker stopped running, and Tucker jumped at the bear. The bear then stood on her hind legs, showing her teeth and claws!

Then the bear and Tucker rolled around a little bit; Amy screamed again, which startled the bear, and the bear returned to the woods.

This time Amy and Tucker slowly backed away, back towards Maple Street. By then, Amy said she had so much adrenaline in her legs that instead of running back to her parents home, she and Tucker took a right onto Maple Street, turning up Tilton Brook Road and running up the back side of Tucker Mountain on the power line/snowmobile trails and down Tucker Mountain Road. She said it was definitely an encounter she won’t forget!

Amy is a long-distance runner and often runs in the woods with her husband and young sons. She has seen bear and other wildlife often, but never before had a bear experience like this.

In checking with our local New Hampshire Fish and Game officer, we learned that this is a rare occurrence. The officer said it is likely that there were cubs close by, and the mother was being protective.

Amy now carries a whistle/air horn with her when running!