bulls,bears and possibly bambies

When we left Stournaraika it was drizzling mildly. As we toiled up the hill out of the village in pursuit of the E4 it stopped that and became sunny and wonderful. Villagers had warned us NOT to try to get onto the E4 in this way, but to go back up the asphalt til we saw the sign to Nereidohori and Pertouli. I had already seen this sign. I didnt want to go that way as the sign also detailed the vast millions that was being spent "improving" the track. George and I, and I expect almost all readers, HATE improved tracks, and the sense of doom that accompanies the cement, dynamite and destruction that improvement brings.So we went up an animproved track, through flowers and grassy meadows and woods, saw all kinds of lovely flowers (see vry lovely spurge) until we met another, somewhat, but not unbearably, improved track. George threw up his head and stopped. What was that on the hillside? Cows, Oh no.

George and I share an uneasy feeling when we see cows now. We couldn`t see a bull, but we knew that somewhere in the shadows he`d be skulking. As we drew nearer I dismounted. The farmer near Giona had advised that it might be better to dismount near bulls, because then the animal would be able to see that one of us was a human, that we were not a threatening composite animal.
A pack of dogs threw themselves into their job of barking with all possible enthusiasm. I was obliged to pick up a branch to beat them off. As we passed the herd, I saw the bull. He was placidly chewing the cud by the watertrough, just as you expect tubby Limousin bulls to do. Nevertheless we got past as quick as we could without actually running. There were three possible directions, as the watertrough was at a meeting of ways. Whe we got round the corner I looked at the map. It seemed to me we should be heading for Mt Nereida (wonder what its REAL name is). Luckily a shepherd had struggled up to te road to meet us. He sent us back the way we had come. We had to go past the bull again and take the road in the opposite direction. So much for my famed sense of direction.

The bull remained fatly lying down. He smiled as we passed.

An hour or so later we met another herd, another bull. This one was NOT lying down, but he didnt bother us.

It was getting to be about time we stopped. Found a lovely meadow on a kind of island surrounded by streams. George rejected this place. I usually let him sniff about in places I am thinking of stopping to see if they suit. He didnt like the grass in the place. There were plenty of signs that cattle grazed there. I have to say I wasn`t too keen on having a bloody great bull tripping over my guy ropes either. So we travelled on.

The track was muddy. There I saw the biggest print made by a bear that I have ever seen. There is an absolutely HUGE male bear on this mountain.

I thought about the second herd of cattle we had just passed in the forest. There were young calves.. real babies, with their mothers. If I was a farmer, I thought, I wouldnt be THAT sanguine about having calves free where a bear of such dimensions was lording it around the place.

Farmers always know if there are bears, so it wasn`t that they hadn`t taken his presence into account. Then I remembered the dogs. Both herds we had passed had dogs hanging out with them. Just as Bling and George had bonded, and knew each others fears and pleasures, so these dogs bond with their cattle. And these dogs are real professionals where guarding their cattle is concerned. Other dogs bond with their sheep or goats and protect them. Not because they are trained to do so - I had never trained Bling to look after George, she just knew that that was what you DO with your horse, and these cattle or sheep dogs are not trained to protect their animals either. They just Do it.

Years ago, when the bear sanctuary was opened in Nymphaeon, I went to the ceremony.The lovely old priest blessed the cage the bear was in, swung incense over the tv cameras etcetc. Then all the sheep dogs from a nearby flock came bounding up the valley - they had smelled the bear -still in the pre release cage- and had arrived to drive it off. Proof, if proof were needed, that these dogs know their job, and can be absolutely relied upon to do it.

So, these baby calves would have to do something pretty silly to get eaten by a bear.. even if he IS the biggest bear in Greece.

So on we went, my infallible sense of direction dictating which track we chose.

In the fading light I saw some very special flowers. These are columbines. also known as Granny`s bonnets, or Granny`s night cap. You can see why in the picture of the single flower. (This I took a day later when there was light and I found another columbine plant) It is the first time that I have seen these growing wild in Greece, so I was pretty excited. But not as excited as I became when we saw prints of yet more bears. We had seen Daddy bear`s prints. Now, I saw Mummy bear`s and baby bear`s (see print with small plant for size comparison - cute baby bear) and also somewhat strangely there was adolescent bear`s print, and this animal was keeping Mummy and Baby bear company. Was it that it was actually 2 babies.. one big and beefy and one runty little thing? or was it that the mother bear was looking after a half grown bear that didn`t belong to her? I had heard that a shepherd had found a baby bear in this area, and taken it to Stournaeika to show it off. Apparently the mother had rampaged down to Stournareika madly searching for her baby, and had destroyed lots of human property, before sense prevailed in the village, and the baby was put where the mother could find it, whereupon the ravaging stopped and she and her baby returned to the mountain. But maybe another female bear had found him before his mother? Maybe the mother had given up and gone before the baby was put up on the mountain for her to find, and the female, whose prints I was now seeing had rescued him, even though she was pregnant with her next baby? Whatever.. it was just an odd combination..mother bear, tiny baby and not so small but not adult bear. ( I came back and took the photos the next day, as there wasn`t enough light as we passed them)

The track got lovelier and lovelier. It was grassy and soft. George was really travelling because the surface suited him so well. So it was a bit of a blow when we came to a locked barrier. Usually I approve of these, as they mean that only people who have proper reasons to get into the forest can get in. However this was functioning back to front. I mean, we hadn`t had any trouble getting IN to this protected area, but now we couldn`t get out. It was nearly dark. It was at least 10 kms to the meadow George had rejected. waaaaaaaaaagh!!!!

There was a narrow gap besidethe gate. If I took all George`s tack off he might be able to squeeze through. He could.

Then tired as I was I had to retack George, and we travelled on. George was well pissed off. Taking his stuff off is a sure sign that he`s going to get a rest. What did I mean by tacking him up again?

Luckily within half an hour we had found the ideal camp site.

The birds were doing an impromptu evening chorus. Birds on this mountain do that when its going to rain very hard. I know that now. At the time I was just charmed by the glory of their song.

George, who had sniffed at some bear tracks, and shown no alarm at all, began now to show signs of disquiet. He started staring into the gloom in an annoying moronic way. His eyes were popping out wildly. The real danger in the forest near Pertouli , you understand, is that it is infested with bambies.