[man singing] %% easy living %%
%% easy, lazy living %%
%% ambling, rambling %%
%% and romping in the sun %%
%% on the double %%
%% making tracks for trouble %%
%% never caring %%
%% just calling trouble fun %%
%% easy living %%
%% easy, lazy living %%
%% got no worries %%
%% no, not a single care %%
%% mischief makers %%
%% pair of handout takers %%
%% easy living %%
%% comes easy to bears %%
[man] high in the northern half of western United States,
The Rocky Mountains rise more than 8,000 feet
To form the continental divide.
Here lies some two million acres of natural wonders,
Yellowstone National Park.
At this altitude, winter comes early.
By mid-November, the entrance gates are deserted
And the park is empty.
In Yellowstone, only the geysers are active.
Every 64 and one half minutes,
Old faithful geyser sends a cloud plume
150 feet into the air.
And the steam from 10,000 lesser geysers
Drifts through the winter-bound silence.
By late may, the snow is gone from the land.
And now the park begins to stir with life.
[growling]
Of course, some residents find the first stirring
Just a little on the creaky side.
This year, one of the creakiest
Was the big she-bear the park rangers had named Necomas.
The years had begun to catch up with Necomas.
Two weeks before, she had brought from the den
What was, perhaps, her last pair of cubs.
The twins, Tuffy and Tubby,
Had been born during the winter hibernation.
By the time spring rolled around,
They were big enough to slip out for early-morning cub scouting
Before the den mother was even up and around.
[growling]
There was no danger in sight,
So Necomas set out to take her morning therapy,
Soaking her tired, old bones in the geyser-warmed water of a nearby River.
Necomas's cubs were about as much alike
As the opposite sides of a coin.
Tuffy never saw anything without wanting it,
And seldom wanted anything without getting it.
[whines]
Tubby, on the other hand,
Wanted just two things:
Food and sleep.
Right now, brother Tuffy was hankering for a pine cone.
Not just any pine cone.
Tuffy wanted that... Cone...
...Right there.
[howling]
[both growling]
[howling]
That had been just a little more fracas than Tubby could handle.
And, as usual, he carried his complaint to mother.
[animal chatters]
Tubby wasn't easy to sidetrack...
[chattering]
...But that strange squeaking was enough to raise his natural curiosity.
Among the young in nature, there are few enemies.
But the baby skunk didn't know about that.
And Tubby only knew there was something up there
That would certainly bear looking into.
In the meantime, down below, from baby number one,
An SOS went out.
Mama skunk got the message and came back to move her babies.
She'd have to carry them one at a time.
While Tubby kept struggling with his entrance examination,
Mama was making her first trip.
[whines]
Tubby attacked his problem from all possible angles
By the time mama came back for the second load.
And that was just about when things started to go wrong for Tubby.
Well, she was leaving the den, anyway.
Might as well let this big lout have it.
[howls]
Tubby was just a little aromatic,
And couldn't even get close to his own brother.
Matter of fact, it wasn't too pleasant being so close to himself.
Well, he knew where to go with his troubles.
When everybody else turns you down,
There's always one a fellow can count on.
When it comes to understanding and sympathy,
You've got to hand it to mom.
Only this time, mom handed it right back.
It was on this day that Necomas began an annual business trip.
The business was food.
It would be provided in copious quantities
By the great American public.
Opening day of the park was near,
And Necomas was determined to be on hand, as usual,
For the big handout.
Of course, there were plenty of stops along the way.
Particularly if an old log looked like it might be loaded with ants,
Beetles, mullet grubs and other natural bear food.
Necomas was just about to turn up something interesting
When Tuffy happened along.
Now he was just an innocent bystander, but he took the rap for mom's bad aim.
- [growling] - [squealing]
The more she thought about missing that mouse,
The madder it made her.
To get the blame and miss the game was not for Tuffy.
If Tubby wanted that mouse, he'd have to fight for it.
[squeaks]
[growls]
[growling]
Uh-oh. Which way to the nearest tree?
Of course, the cubs didn't know that Necomas couldn't care less
About one small mouse.
There was a summer-long feast in her future.
And still a far piece to travel.
There are five entrances into Yellowstone park.
Some time around may 1st, weather permitting,
The rangers officially open all the gates
And the summer season is on.
Nearly two million people visit Yellowstone park each year.
They pay $3.00 per car for a permit,
And it's good for 15 days.
Along with the pass goes a folder full of facts on the park,
Including some good suggestions on how to get along with the wildlife.
Inside the park, there's even more of the same information.
Unfortunately, too many people pay too little attention to these signs.
And that suits the bears just fine.
Now just about every bear in the park
Has taken up his regular station
And is waiting to start working the tourist trade.
Some polish their car-stopping capers while they wait.
Still others find favorite vantage points
Where they'll be sure to spot the chuck wagons when they come into view.
Soon the first car appears.
The first highwayman makes his move,
And the big mooch is on.
Parking a pair of cubs in the middle of the road
And acting motherly is guaranteed to get results.
But as soon as the car stops, it's everyone for himself.
The moochers come in two basic sizes:
Big and little.
Before long, roadside business really starts picking up,
And the traffic gets snarled into what the rangers call a "bear jam."
An old bear can be mighty appealing.
But the ones to watch are the second-story men.
The cubs usually put on the best show.
But mother bear is never very far behind.
And that's important to remember.
Because it's downright dangerous
To come between a she-bear and her cubs.
[growling]
Most of the first-time tourists just want to be friendly.
But even the bears take a dim view of things
When familiarity goes too far.
Now the closer you get to a bear, the less reason there is for staying there.
And that was too close for the ranger.
It was time to break up this bear jam.
The bears don't like to see a good thing go.
They'd just as soon hang on a little longer.
Especially old twinkle toes, here.
One last fling.
That's all till the next bear jam forms.
Now the main scenic highway in Yellowstone is the grand loop.
It's 142 Miles around
And it carries most of the traffic through the park.
But there are side roads that aren't well-traveled.
And along one of these is a place where Necomas always came to mooch.
The flow of tourists was going strong,
And already they'd had several customers.
Business just kept rolling in.
- [child] I want to see bears! - [father] well, I'll be darned.
But we don't have anything to feed them.
Well, we have marshmallows in the trailer.
Oh, sure, I guess we do. I forgot about those.
All right, come on. Get out and get them.
- [girl giggles] - now be real careful. That's right.
[narrator] well, you just can't keep saying no to the kids
When everybody's supposed to be enjoying the vacation.
If the youngsters were willing to give up a marshmallow roast,
Dad was ready to forget all the warnings about not feeding the bears.
- [girl giggles] - ok, you kids get in the car, will you?
Honey, I think I'd better feed the bear.
Go on, dad.
[mother] oh, look at that. We ought to get a picture of him.
- [chuckles] look at that bear. - [mother laughs]
Bears don't have any teeth.
[mother] oh, they do too. They've got lots of teeth.
[girl] their mouths don't open.
[mother] sure it opens. Look at it.
[whining]
[growling]
Now a big danger of feeding bears
Is accidentally teasing one, like this.
Sorry, that's all there is, old girl.
There isn't any more.
Honey, these bears are almost tame.
They'd make pretty good pets.
Jack, look out!
- Stop it, stop! - [growling]
Get away from me! Stop, stop!
[mother] quick, Jack!
- Dear, are you all right? - I'm ok, but let's get out of here.
About a half a mile further along,
The family pulled in to the public campground.
There are about 70 of them in the park
With over 2,200 camping sites.
Probably a half million people use these places during the season.
But not many families drive in with a grub box full of bear cubs.
But just this one carload was enough,
Considering the way everything turned out.
Oh, I hope we can find a campsite.
The kids are tired and I'm worn out.
- [mother] where are you going? - To get the bucket.
- It should be in here somewhere. - It was sitting right there.
There it is.
Get some water for the coffee, while I see the ranger.
Ok. Come on, kids. Come on.
[narrator] no one even knew there were bear cubs in the campground.
Most of the campers were listening to a ranger
Who was giving a talk on wildlife and points of interest in the park.
Then Tubby spotted another youngster
That, like himself, didn't seem to be getting too much attention.
Well, everything went according to formula.
Tubby had it, so Tuffy wanted it.
[snarling]
As usual, Tuffy won out.
Tubby took off to tattletale to mom.
Tuffy figured maybe he'd better report to mother too.
Trouble was, they were headed in the wrong direction.
Necomas had followed the road and skirted around the campground.
There, she picked up the scent of her cubs,
And it led her to the trailer.
Her young were in there, somewhere.
She was certain of that.
And she was gonna get them out, one way or another.
While things were falling apart over at the trailer,
The father was talking to Joe the ranger about a campsite for the night.
In the meantime, on the other side of the campground,
Tubby and Tuffy moved into new territory.
[whistles zip-a-dee-doo-dah]
[growling]
When they couldn't find Necomas,
They decided to poke around on their own for a while.
That could lead to trouble, and it did.
What the...? Hey, wait! Wait!
Come back! My trailer! Wait! Stop!
Slow down! Stop!
Hold it! Come back!
Stop!
- Look out below! - What?
No, no, no stop! Go back!
[man yelling]
[sighs] it's all right.
[moaning] my nice camp.
[narrator] it's things like this that make people say,
"the best part of a vacation is getting back home."
About this time, Joe the ranger
Was driving back with the father to help him find a campsite.
Joe was on old-timer in Yellowstone park.
As soon as he saw the crowd,
He had a pretty good idea what was causing it.
Holy smoke, my trailer!
Looks like you got bear trouble over there.
[man] it's tearing things up, get it out.
- Kids all right, honey? - They're fine.
- When we got back with the water... - What a mess.
- It sure is. - Stand back, folks.
What's the matter with you, old girl? We never had trouble with you before.
- Come on. - [roars]
Come on, Necomas. Get out.
Come on, get down out of there. Let's go.
Move! Now get on out of there, girl.
Come on.
[narrator] about every ranger in the park knew Necomas.
She was always well-behaved, but now the father said
This was the same bear that attacked him just down the road.
- Are you sure? - Well, I... I think so.
Look, it tore my jacket.
It was plain he'd been worked over by a bear,
And considering the way Necomas was acting now,
There wasn't much doubt she'd done it.
And that meant Joe had to do something he didn't like very much.
[crowd chattering]
Kb447. Calling 447, this is 319.
I need the trap wagon right away, at old faithful campground.
The father hadn't mentioned seeing cubs,
And Joe never figured an old bear like Necomas would have any little ones.
The way it was, there was only one thing to do.
What are you gonna do? Kill her?
Oh, no. Just gonna put her to sleep for awhile.
[narrator] the park rangers always try to preserve the wildlife
As well as protect the public.
Here's a collection of drugs that helps them do both.
When bad animals are too big and dangerous to handle awake,
The rangers give them a sleeping drug called sucostrin.
It's harmless but powerful.
It's marked yellow, for caution.
Red means nicotine,
A deadly injection, for emergency use only.
For their own protection, the rangers administer these drugs from long range
With a compressed air rifle powered with carbon dioxide.
[growling]
Come on now, let's go. Move, move.
Now stand back, folks, please.
Sucostrin takes effect in anywhere from 20 seconds to three minutes.
Necomas wouldn't go very far.
Charlie, pull around the campground.
She ran into the meadows.
[ranger] back up a little more.
Little more.
Ok, hold it.
Hey, Hal, it's old Necomas.
Hmm, wonder what got into her.
[narrator] the trap wagon is a specially-designed cage
For transporting troublesome animals.
And Necomas had become a troublemaker.
Now Necomas would be taken into the high country,
And up here, far from the tourist centers,
She would be released.
But there's one thing that must be done before releasing a banished bear.
[ranger] sorry, old gal. I sure hate to do this to a friend.
[narrator] removing any dangerous animal
From one public place doesn't mean that it can't wander back into another.
So the park rangers have developed a system of identification.
A first offender is marked with a swatch of yellow paint.
Another offense anywhere and the animal is destroyed.
[growling]
Sure hope she doesn't come back.
And now old Necomas wore the Mark of a first offender.
The rangers may have thought it was the end of the trail for Necomas.
But for the mother bear, it was just the beginning.
Outlaw or not, she was already on her way back to find her cubs.
That night, Tuffy and Tubby were about as lonesome as two cubs can get.
They just couldn't understand why mom wasn't here.
Necomas hadn't even stopped for sleep.
And by dawn, she was approaching the geyser fields along the Firehole River.
Tuffy and Tubby were up and about early.
And by merest Chance, they wandered into this same territory.
Here, in the space of a few acres,
Are concentrated a wide assortment of bubbling mud pots and steaming geysers.
It looked like a promising playground.
They'd look for mother later.
[gurgling]
Tuffy spotted a geyser about his own size.
He just had to find out what made it work.
Meantime, Tubby stumbled onto a field of mud pots.
They're something like geysers, only gooier.
Well, maybe this pink ice cream sundae has something to offer.
Like the big bear said,
"this porridge is a little too hot."
The cubs had almost forgotten that they were motherless.
But they were plenty long on curiosity,
And there was a lot of country left to be explored.
At this same moment, Necomas entered the geyser basin from the opposite side.
She had crossed the trail of the cubs and followed it here.
But in the mineral steam of the geysers, she lost their scent.
It'd be many days before she found it again.
The days passed and the cubs covered a lot of ground.
Of course, they were lonesome now and then,
But as long as there was food, they were generally happy.
They never went hungry, since they'd eat anything and liked everything.
Besides, there were always tourists.
In time, they came to associate people with food.
Then, as far as they were concerned,
Anything people had was food.
Pretty soon, they were dining on things
Like soap-sud soufflé and movie-film spaghetti.
Each day brought the cubs a new adventure of one sort or another,
Mostly caused by the two things they had the most of:
Appetite and curiosity.
[engine revving]
What's the matter, dear? No luck?
Got plenty of luck, see?
Ran out of tackle.
Had to come back for some more.
[narrator] the cubs felt they were welcome everywhere.
They meant to join the folks at the table.
But Tubby's sensitive nose picked up the tantalizing odor of fish.
They never hesitated to help themselves to anything, anytime.
With the prospect of fresh trout for breakfast,
It was gangway for the galley.
Hey! What's going on?
Stop! Come back here!
Stop!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[narrator] this fisherman would have quite a tale to tell
About the boat that got away.
And he'd just filled it with gas too.
Of course, the only reason for being here was food.
When Tuffy got away with that,
There was only one thing for Tubby to do.
Settle for sightseeing.
The course they were on was just about perfect for looking around.
Well, a few shakedown maneuvers straightened things out.
Then Tubby figured he might as well wash his paws
As long as he was out here, anyway.
Then Tuffy finished eating and wanted a drink.
But he was a little short on scoop.
No damage up here.
Some pleasure boaters just have no regard for fishermen.
Tuffy decided the man looked friendly.
Avast, port your helm.
And come about.
[yells]
Must have cut that a little too far.
Come about again, me hearties.
[yelling]
While Tuffy was floundering around in the wake,
Tubby went in and finally established a beachhead.
So an adventure that started on one side of the lake
Ended up on the opposite shore.
And in territory they had just left,
A footsore old Necomas still carried on the search for her cubs,
Always a day or so behind them.
One cub was never far away from the other.
And as the summer passed, they ranged the reaches of the park together.
They had little time for loneliness.
[man singing] %% through the summer %%
%% long and lazy summer %%
%% got no worries %%
%% no, not a single care %%
%% mischief makers %%
%% pair of handout takers %%
%% easy living %%
%% comes easy to bears %%
%% easy living %%
%% comes easy to bears %%
[narrator] when Autumn comes to Yellowstone,
Around the lodges only the wildlife and a few scattered tourists remain.
It was on a brisk, fall day
That Tuffy and Tubby arrived at an old stamping ground,
And headed for a place where the summer handouts had been good.
The cubs had grown to around 50 pounds each during the summer.
Right now, that totaled about 100 pounds of concentrated hunger.
Pickings were lean in the parking lot.
So, once again, Tubby just let himself be led by the nose.
And that took him right to the door of the Old Faithful inn.
Tubby had never been inside, of course, but he was willing to try it anyway.
Nobody seemed to mind.
As usual, Tuffy was content to play follow the leader.
He knew his brother's nose was always tuned in on food.
Of course, once in a while, even Tubby took a wrong turn.
[mother] come on back and play with your car, Paul.
[Paul] I want to see bears.
[mother] there's not any bears.
- I want to see bears. - There's not a bear there.
Come over and sit down.
They want to play with me.
There are not any bears, come on.
- I want to play. - Come over here...
- [Paul whining] - come on.
Come over here and sit down.
[narrator] Tubby really came through this time.
Here was a bear's fondest dream come true.
Food. A whole kitchen full.
[growling]
Of course, Tubby got right down to eating.
But Tuffy had a mechanical bent.
He just had to play around with the stick shift
On that sport model potato masher.
No use getting your nose out of joint,
Especially when it's got so many other things to get into.
Must be something better than just straight flour around here.
Well, what do you know?
Dough.
By now, Tuffy had worked up an appetite
And he was ready to do a little pie-panhandling.
Well, the crust was pretty good.
But the filling was a flop.
You just can't hardly find hot dogs once the tourist season ends.
No use letting this batch go to waste.
'course, a little ketchup always goes good,
If you can get it out of mother nature's container.
Hmm, somebody should have built this stuff closer to Tubby's tongue.
It was now just a short distance away
That Necomas was closing in on a trail that grew more promising every second.
And the cubs weren't about to leave.
If they had their way, they'd stay on here for quite a spell.
[echoing growl]
As usual, if Tubby had it, Tuffy wanted it.
And this time, Tubby started giving it to him.
[growls]
Tuffy was all ready pretty well à la mode.
But Tubby had found a topper for his brother's comeuppance.
[moaning]
The warm scent of her cubs hung close around Necomas now.
And she sensed they were just inside.
When the cubs discovered the pastry counter,
They really moved in on the dessert course.
Tubby managed to corner the market.
There was barely enough here for himself,
And nothing at all for a heavy eater like his brother.
Well, Tuffy had to drown his sorrow in tomato juice.
And while Tubby dined on cake, Tuffy just kept lapping it up.
Finally, even Tubby slowed down.
He'd had a little trouble with those last five or six cakes.
Whew.
[growling]
By now, the cubs had their eating habits so bad,
If there was one scrap of food still left,
They were going to find it,
Even if it meant taking the whole place apart.
Necomas was all ready branded as a first offender.
Even in coming here, she'd committed her second offense.
Of course, the manager knew the meaning of the yellow Mark:
A dangerous bear.
He called the park service for help in a hurry.
[manager] I got a bad bear at the Old Faithful inn. Right in lobby. Hurry!
Once again, man tried to drive Necomas from the search she wouldn't give up.
Go on, bear, get out of here.
Go on, bear. Go on.
Get out of here, now. Go on.
Joe the ranger was explaining the workings of a geyser
- To late-season tourists - [beeping]
When the call came from the park headquarters.
[radio] car 319, 319.
319. Come in 447.
[radio] emergency, Joe. Bad bear inside Old Faithful inn.
Be right there.
[siren blaring]
Hurry, will you? He's a mean one. He's tearing the place apart.
[sirens wailing]
[narrator] for Joe, there was no choice.
He had to use a red capsule on a two time offender.
Yet Necomas was guilty of only one thing:
Devotion to her young.
[ranger] there she goes.
[narrator] Necomas. For Joe, this wasn't easy.
Go ahead, Joe. You got to do it.
Holy mackerel, look at this.
At first, they seemed to be just a couple of stray cubs.
Then it became clear that this was a very happy reunion.
These were her cubs, lost all summer long.
No wonder the old girl had been on a rampage.
I think we ought to give old Necomas another Chance.
Come on, old gal. Get your kids and get outdoors.
Necomas had always been a good bear.
Chances were, she was still a good bear.
Anyway, she was an awful good mother bear.
Necomas would be given a wide berth for a while
Because of her yellow Mark of dishonor.
But with the passing of winter, that would be gone.
Now Necomas had no quarrel with anybody or anything.
She was reunited with her cubs.
For Necomas, a long and lonesome search had come to an end.
And so had a summer full of adventure for Tuffy and Tubby.
But at last, everything was as it should be.
In the manner of bears,
Necomas and her family would spend other seasons together.
And as long as this one old mother bear lived,
There would always be two Old Faithfuls
In Yellowstone National Park.
{{{ the end }}}