Bears in the Woods

Have there been any bears reported in the St. John's woods?

A quick search on The Abbey Quarterly index notes a sighting in 1991 of a black bear as it moved through the area. There is a story from the early days of St. John's about Muro, the pet bear: "Father Wolfgang introduced Muro to us sometime in 1867 and a student helped him take care of the animal. Now Muro was a very agreeable chap and was very close to all of us. He had full freedom to amble anywhere his instincts led him. If he was tired, he climbed into the nearest bed, much to the surprise of its human occupant. When hunger gnawed his stomach, he would enter the kitchen and politely growl at the Brother for a good-sized chunk of meat or bread. Nor was he deprived of the higher things of life, for he was welcome, at least by then students, in the classrooms and study halls.

From here on, I am sad to say, the story takes a tragic turn. On June 2, 1869, Sylvester Sheirs, a young student from St. Paul, was teasing Muro by tossing sticks at him. Animal patience is not the same for every species, and evidently a bear's is short, for Muro's patience soon ran out, and his instincts got the better of him, since he wasn't accustomed to such treatment.

Muro lunged at the boy, who, screaming for help, ran past me down to the lake shore, about where the Lourdes grotto is now, with Muro in hot pursuit. Sylvester got into a boat and planned to stay on the lake till the beast calmed down, but bears aren't so slow on their feet, and by this time Muro was right behind him. Sylvester tried to defend himself by hitting the animal with an oar. But that made the once tame Muro into a ferocious beast. Jumping into the boat and throwing his forelegs around the boy, he bit him in the neck. Father Wolfgang arrived on the scene too late to save the boy's life. He took care of the bear by putting a rope around its neck, tying it to a nearby post, and shooting it." The Scriptorium, Vol. 14, no.1, p29