Grin and bear it – here is the moooos from a ‘wild’ mountain city

No one knows for sure how many black bears live in the High Tatras mountains of Slovakia.

But it is thought there are about 800. And, generally, they are getting by quite well, thank you.

However, as the forests in the foothills have fallen to fire, axe and pestilence the little mountain city of Poprad has become a bit of a honey trap for them.

There hasn’t been a fatal bear attack in Slovakia for 100 years but it is still a bit scary if you open your front door to be confronted by a bunch of black hair, claws and gnashing teeth …

The official advice is to treat this 350lb grinning slathering ‘teddy bear’ exactly like you treat your missus when she comes home from the pub … talk to her in a nice way, use a calm soothing voice, tell her how lovely she is and how nice it is to see her.

Then slowly start walking backwards.

Now, to be fair you don’t very often bump into a black bear on your doorstep. But it’s not unheard of.

In fact a few years ago, a family of bears did take over a local railway station for the winter. It was quite homely really, Daddy Bear would commute into town and Mummy Bear would amble off into the local forest ‘supermarket’ for sustenance … and Baby Bear? Well he had the world’s greatest train set to keep him amused morning noon and night.

So, in the land of mountains that can play tennis with an electrical storm for weeks, what do you do if the city is invaded by … well, a cow?

What you do is call the police!

That’s what you do!

And the pictures here show how a little lost cow ran circles around one of Poprad’s finest as he tried a Western-style round up on Popradskej Brigady a short walk from the town centre.

Resident Monika Frankobska captured the moment from her apartment window.

She laughed: “I captured the cow while the officer was trying round it up .. but sadly only on film!”

Eventually, the animal was captured and taken away.

But the mystery still remains – where did it come from in the first place?

There is the odd farm on the outskirts of Poprad but, because of the local wolves and bears, security is very tight.

As one elderly Popradian said: “Quite often you can see a bear rummaging in the town, or even a wolf! But a brown cow? Never been heard of before in my knowledge!”

If anybody knows where the cow came from – let us know!

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