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Family Stories
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events
The Hamster and the Bear
As my parents prepared for our trip to Yellowstone National Park in August of 1967, they may not have thought through the logistics of having recently purchased a hamster for my brother Ken. Yes, the hamster and its cage joined us as my parents, myself, and three of my siblings (Keith and Bruce didn't come) packed into an International Harvester Travelall. We travelled with another family, the Teders, who were friends, neighbors, and an opposing team for volleyball, flag football, and softball.
Hidden Falls area of Grand Teton - with my mom
We arrived at Grand Teton National Park on a warm day, and we did some hiking and sightseeing in the area for three or more hours. While we had left a window or two down a crack, the interior of our vehicle was quite warm when we got back. Ken's hamster did not survive the heat while inside its cage. My parents removed as much of the contents of the cage as quickly as they could to reduce the stench, and then we headed the relatively short distance (~20 miles) to Yellowstone to set up camp for the night.
Both our parents and the Teders had warned us children about the concern about bears in the park and how important it was not to bring food into a tent.
Bear at Yellowstone entrance
We had a family tent that could handle the six of us if needed, but it was a bit crowded then. Therefore, the four kids stayed in the tent, and our parents folded down the back seat of the Travelall and slept there. They placed things from the back into the front seats, inside our tent, some on the picnic table, or on top of the car. The hamster cage was placed on the roof of the car.
our Travelall pulling our tent-camper (not used on this trip)
Even though it was August, it sometimes got cold in the mountains, so we had each brought a warm coat. As my mother retold it, in the middle of the night, she was awakened by a banging sound outside the car. Being a little groggy, she wondered why Mr. Teders was hanging around outside of the car wearing his warm, furry coat. As she was about to open the car door to determine what was wrong, "Mr. Teders" went to all fours and scampered away. Only this year did I confess that I had brought a small amount of food into the tent. Thank you, Mr. Hamster, for being a distraction.
Published 2020-06-12. Revised 2025-06-28.
If you find any error(s) in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]
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