C

Campers Gene and Marie Marsden took pride in being good citizens when in the wild．While driving miles to the Green River Lakes area，they instructed their children in the rules they'd learned in the bear safety handbook put out by the Bridger﹣Teton Forest Service．The number﹣one rule was"Don't feed the bears!"﹣whether intentionally or not．Warning the kids not to go anywhere near a bear，the Marsdens had no problem with the intentional part，but the unintentional part was not as easy to avoid as they thought．

Mr．and Mrs．Marsden did their best to keep a tidy camp．While the handbook had said to hang all food at least ten feet off the ground，they did that and locked their food in their trailer at night．Afraid that the scent of the bait（鱼饵） might attract a bear，they even locked up Marie's fishing pole．Being sure nothing was left out，they went to bed．

Gene says he now regrets not having taken their dog Spike into the tent at night，but they liked having him on guard．On the night of the encounter（相遇），Spike would not stop barking，and Marie knew he must be sounding the alarm on something more dangerous．When she unzipped the tent and shone her flashlight，she saw a young bear．

They all piled into the car and drove quickly down the trail．They drove to a pay phone twenty miles away and called a Fish and Game Department ranger，who identified the bear by the white ruff the Marsdens had seen around his neck．The authorities informed the Marsdens that the bear was a young male that they'd been keeping an eye on．

The next morning，the Marsdens heard helicopters circling over the mountain and wondered if it might have something to do with the bear．After spending the night in the public campground，they drove back to their site．Wandering the area in search of clues，Marie came to a stop below a tallest tree．She slapped her head and shouted，"Oh no!"

"What is it？"Gene asked．

Marie pointed at the ground where Spike's dog food bowl lay upside down．

A week after their return home，the Marsdens read the headline in their local paper．"Bear Euthanized in Wind Rivers．"According to the article，the Fish and Game Department had shot the young bear because，having been rewarded for invading（侵入） a human campsite，it would likely do so again．

The Marsdens knew they had been lucky in the encounter，yet much to their shame and sadness，they also knew that the bear had not．