When I was little I used to remember walking to our families favorite resting spot the Bear Country Jamboree. No longer there (sad) now replaced with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. On the way there just past the Haunted Mansion there was a small cliff with a cave in the hill side about half way up. If you listened carefully, well I take that back it was loud enough to hear all the time, you would hear SNORING! Yes to a 5 year old who can't wait to see the Bears sing and a talking Moose head (Melvin still in Winnie the Pooh) your Dad and Older Brother telling you that there was a really BEAR in the cave was quiet believable. I mean it really sounded like a Bear snoring. It was Rufus the Bear and his cave was turned in to Splash Mountain. Rufus was moved for a while to the top of Splash Mountain by the first drop but now Brar Bear lives there. I miss Rufus he was definitely a land mark and always meant to me that I was near a childhood favorite spot.

Words from the Bear Country Sign:

ENTERING

BEAR COUNTRY

“A HONEY OF A PLACE SINCE ’72”

PERMITS MUST BE OBTAINED FOR

TREE-CLIMBING

,FISHING, SCRATCHING AND

HIBERNATING

(PERMANENT RESIDENTS EXCEPTED)

NO PERMIT NECESSARY FOR FEEDING

BEARS

J. AUDUBON WOODLORE

PARK RANGER

URSUS AMERICANUS

NATURALIST