FOURTH BLACK BEAR FOUND MUTILATED IN WHITE MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE TOWN

Happy 4th!

I am creating a series of newsletters to create a backstory and history of Ruby Caves. There are many more changes to this website eventually coming, but for now, enjoy a quick story from The Ruby Caves Howler.

November 2

Richie Gravier, 74, and his daughter Leah, 48, were traveling on Old Hobbs Ln just east of I-93 Friday evening when the corpse of a bear was dropped on their hood from the rocky cliffs above. Leah swerved into the oncoming lane after the windshield broke and was clipped into the barrier by an approaching tow truck. Tow truck driver David Hart, 51, was telling bad jokes to calm the petrified father and daughter. “One minute I’m on the way to pick up a vehicle a little way out and the next, I’m involved in an accident myself. I saw the bear fall but there wasn’t any time to get out of the way. The two of them got lucky. I’m a very convenient tow truck driver,” David laughs.

“It was so gross. I couldn’t see through the window. There was blood all over the dash too,” says Leah. The airbags deployed, totaling the vehicle, and there also was damage to the car’s transmission and cooling due to the crushed hood. David’s tow truck suffered a light blow to the driver’s wheel well. All three heard low growling and looked up, but it was too dark to see more than a large, dark figure. When Leah retrieved a flashlight from the vehicle and shined it at the figure, they discovered “cream white” fur and glowing eyes. It was a werewolf, a common site here, but it turned before the three could get a good look and recognize the creature. The sighting was enough for Sheriff Rusty Turnbull, responding to the scene less than twenty minutes later, to impose a warning about the local Ferals.

“This is a territorial dispute,” he said, “I can’t see what else this can be.”

Bear hunting, unless under heavy regulations, has been illegal since 1922 to keep the local, predator-prey balance safe. A spokeswoman for the Elder Ferals, who asked to not be identified, said that the local packs were not to blame. “They have adhered to the rules since the beginning. They’re wary of the public. They would never draw attention to themselves like this.” With this fourth death, Sheriff Turnbull is going to attempt peacekeeping methods not used since 1950, in order to draw out the neutral pack. He concurs with the spokeswoman that none of their members killed the bear, citing no evidence of pack activity in the area, cleared alibis, and a “Incredibly strong ties to their past.”

The bear had both hind legs removed at the hip and its ears had been chewed away. It is being buried later today. Of the 66 werewolves in residence within the sanctuary of Ruby Caves, only two have white fur (including Sheriff Turnbull). The other, an Elder, is incapacitated or no longer has the strength to do that kind of damage to a bear. It is believed that the suspect is an outsider.