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IN THE FIELD: Bear Fever
There is a small town near our home where I can be found snooping around in search of new and interesting subjects to learn about and to photograph.
It is filled with architecture from the early part of the century and some buildings even date back further. Most of the older homes have stained glass windows and intricate scroll work on the window frames. In addition to all the interesting building designs is another charming characteristic of this town. It’s the town mascot. The Bears.
I have managed to photograph a handful of the bears that are situated throughout town, but I have a long way to go. Reportedly there are 61 bears of various themes waiting for me to discover. Good thing I have a map!
David Heilman 
They are so cute and colourful 🙂 We had a similar thing here in London – quite a few elephants hiding in the city 🙂 I can see you have a lot to discover in your local area 🙂
Aren’t they great! They are tucked into storefronts, street corners and along sidewalks. Elephants hiding in town must be fun! Yes there is lots to discover in the area…I need more time LOL
So whimsical and creative! You find the most INTERESTING things, David. Happy New Year!
Each and every one is painted in a different theme which makes it really fun to discover them. I should be busy trying to find them all! Happy New Year to you too!
Cool! These remind me of the bulls they once had in Chicago. Happy New Year!!!
Or the Cincinnati PIGS: https://www.google.com/search?q=cincinnati+pigs&client=firefox-a&hs=g9L&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8c3CUv6QMsqyyAGJ64DACw&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1112&bih=631
Neato brightly colored critters!
Wow farm animals in town! I think its great for the community when folks do something like this! Happy New Year! The other day at the post office I found an Elk close to life size covered in pieces of mirrors. It was pouring rain so I’ll wait for better conditions to get a photo.
Really cool!
Aren’t they fun…and I have 61 of them to find!!! My latest quest LOL
Quite fun to look at these-we did that here with cows around the city-so amazing to see how creative people are with their ideas. Hm-m-m…gives me an idea to check out what “projects” I can spot around here.Thanks for sharing and good job of capturing them in their respective settings.
Aren’t these the coolest thing?! I can’t wait to see what other themes folks have painted on their bears. I think I’ll have a pretty good collection since at last count there are 61 of those critters about town!
Yes, I would be interested in seeing more as well. Other people’s creativity always inspires mine.
Wow, how cool! What a great project for the New Year! Is the doctor bear affiliated with a hospital? 🙂
I think it’s going to be pretty fun finding them…who knows what else I’ll discover in my quest…I really can’t wait to see! I went past the doctor bear this morning. He is in front of an Oral and Maxillofacial surgery office.
I just realized that your post haven’t been reaching me. I don’t know why. But I will re-subscribe. As for this post, what colorful creatures you have. Beautiful. Coincidentally, here in San Angelo, there are colorfully painted sheep statues all over town. We used to be called the Wool Capital of the World because of the sheep industry. Anyway, local artists took it upon themselves to keep the thought alive. So if you ever visit here you have another collection to photograph. 🙂
Hi Bob, I’ve been having the same issue with a whole bunch of folks I subscribe to. Looks like I should take the same route you are and re-subscribe to them. I’ll bet it is pretty neat have the sheep creatures about town. What a fun idea! Ya know….I was just thinking…wildlife photography at its easiest…no zoom or telephoto needed, no blind needed and the critters don’t scamper away!
What cool bears! Can’t say you couldn’t get the shot with these fellas! 🙂 Baltimore Inner Harbor has several large fish sculptures that were decorated by local artists, some are quite creative. What a neat way for towns/cities to share art!
Fish sculptures…way cool! I have to get down there to the harbor…it’s been several years since my last visit. I love seeing stuff like this (bringing art to more of the public).
The town of Newbern, NC also uses bears as their symbol (not sure why since they are an ocean front city). Blacksburg, VA (20 mins from me) has, what else, the Hokie Bird!
That is just the coolest. That would be a fun quest…to photograph other town mascots. Hmmmm. I really want to get out and find more of the bears…but with the wind chills in the -20 range it’s just a little chilly out there. I had to look up what a Hokie Bird was…it’s a pretty neat history of how they came about. Go Hokies!!!
I love that you checked out the Hokie Bird! Go Hokies indeed!
This was so delightful – thanks for sharing! Remember when everyone was doing cows? I think it started in Chicago. A few years ago, Maine did painted lighthouses. There’s one still sitting in a gazebo here in downtown Saco.
Glad you enjoyed the little teaser…I have found some more bears but will need to wait for better weather to photograph them. Most are hibernating under a blanket of snow LOL. Lighthouses…how cool is that! I would love to see them especially since I have a thing for the sea and anything nautical.
It’s good to see that you can bear up so well through the cold winter.
Yup…the best thing to do is just grin and bear it.