The Smokey Mountains in Tennessee are filled with black bears. It isn’t unusual for hikers, motorists, and occasionally townspeople to encounter curious, hungry bears. Most of these encounters usually end with an overturned trash can, a raided picnic basket, and pictures from curious tourists, but sometimes they can go sideways. For a Tennessee hunting dog named Charlie, it was the longest three days of his dog life, trapped with a furry roommate.
Charlie, a hunting dog, became hung up in a narrow cave shaft about 40 feet underground in Sevier County, just outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. In itself, that would be hazardous enough until the Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department, who assisted in the pup’s rescue, discovered Charlie was temporary roommates with a sleeping black bear. It isn’t unusual to stumble across a bear in Tennessee, especially during the early Fall, as they look for shelter and food.
The approximately 2-year-old, 200-pound bear had entered the cave unbeknownst to rescuers until, upon descent into the system, they stumbled on the snoozing critter. The discovery immediately scuttled rescue efforts while cameras were set up at the mouth of the cave to monitor when the bear would finally leave the temporary shelter.
Eventually, on Wednesday, they discovered the bear had moved on, and rescuers used ropes and descended the nearly 40 feet to grab the tired pooch and bring him up to safety. The rescue team pulled Charlie up where he was “quickly reunited with his happy owner.”
Considering the length of time he was trapped with his unexpected guest, Charlie appeared to be in good condition. As he was being lifted out, rescuers could be heard saying: “Come on big guy, come on buddy.” Rescuers said about Charlie: “He was dehydrated and hungry, but in otherwise good condition.”
The mission was a group effort between the WCVFD, Sevier County Fire & Rescue, Sevier County Volunteer Rescue Squad, and Catons Chapel-Richardson Cove Volunteer Fire Department. Typically, search-and-rescue missions involve hikers, campers, and hunters, and while they don’t always have happy endings, for Charlie he was overjoyed to be back home.
On social media, the rescue group revealed that this wasn’t their first time pulling a pooch from a dangerous situation. The same group teamed up to rescue a hunting dog named Storm from another deep cave in nearby English Mountain.
"*" indicates required fields
The Smokey Mountains are dotted with numerous caves and gorges and can be tricky for even experienced hikers as well as trained rescuers. The mountains are also home to numerous species of wild animals and poisonous snakes. Luckily for Charlie, the bear was just looking for a place to nap for a while and eventually went on its way.
As Autumn descends on the mountains, more bears will be seeking shelter in the numerous caves, so hopefully, any more rescue missions the team has to attempt won’t involve snoozing black bears, and if so, the rescues can be pulled off as professionally and without incident as this one was.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video