Black Bear and Squirrel Walk a Tightrope

In a mountain far away lived a very friendly black bear named Sobig. He was very friendly and was always willing to help the other animals that lived in the same area. Throughout the years, he had mastered the skill of balance due to there being a tightrope that connected two mountain cliffs. The rope was usually used by humans, but every so often Sobig liked to cross over to the other mountain cliff. He found it easier to cross on all fours than trying to cross standing up on his two hind legs.

One day, he was getting ready to cross over to the other mountain when he ran into a squirrel named Scrat. Scrat needed some help getting over to the other side and getting Sobig to help him was his only chance of making it across. Scrat was very clumsy and there was no way he would make it over on his own.

"Hi Sobig," said Scrat.

"Hey Scrat, what are you up to today?" asked Sobig.

With a big grin on his face, Scrat said, "I need some help getting across to the other mountain cliff and I have heard that you seem to do it pretty easily."

"I have indeed mastered crossing to the other cliff. I would love to help you. Why don't you sit on my head between my ears?' replied Sobig.

Scrat replied, "I am afraid If I do that then I will fall off."

"Well then, you can sit on my back if it works better," said Sobig.

"That brings us back to the same thing though; I am afraid that I will fall," replied Scrat.

"How would you like me to get you across then?" asked Sobig.

"Let me hop inside you and you can carry me across in that way," said Scrat.

"Sure, sounds like a great idea!" said Sobig.

So, the two of them went on their way and started to head across on the tight rope to the other mountain cliff. While in Sobig's body, Scrat was slowly gnawing away at Sobig's carotid, which is one of the biggest blood vessels in the body. When they made it to the other cliff, Sobig collapsed because of how much blood he had lost. Scrat climbed out and began to look around.

"I need to find a sharp, jagged rock to butcher Sobig," Scrat said to himself.

As Coyote was walking by, he heard Scrat talking to himself and wanted to be a part of his plan.

"Hey Scrat, let's make a deal. Once we find a good rock to butcher Sobig with, the person who can jump over him without falling should be the one to butcher him," said Coyote.

Scrat agreed, but as sly as he was, he had a plan in mind. Coyote went first and did not quite clear the body of Sobig without tripping and falling. Scrat is significantly smaller than Coyote so it was nearly impossible for him to fully clear Sobig. So, he jumped over his head since it was not as big as the rest of his body.

Scrat started to butcher Sobig and gave Coyote his internal organs to go wash in the stream. When he got back, Scrat noticed some of the organs were missing and he checked his mouth only to find remnants of food in there. He was about to kill Coyote when he saw that, but Coyote was quicker and killed him with a flint that he had found. He left all of the food sitting next to Scrat's dead body as well as a tick and went to go get his children.

Scrat got up, and when he did the tick flew to Coyote and informed him that Scrat was not dead. So, Coyote went back to the site, killed him again and went back on his way. Once again, the tick flew to Coyote and told him that Scrat had once again gotten up. So, Coyote went back one last time to assure that Scrat was dead. When Scrat got up and saw that the tick was about to go get Coyote, he killed the tick.

With Coyote being gone, Scrat got all the food and climbed up a nearby tree. It was late when Coyote got back with his children. Everything was gone and Scrat was nowhere to be found. Scrat finally called to Coyote and his children from the top of the tree and told them they could lay down at the foot of the tree and he would throw them some food. Once they had all fallen asleep, Scrat grabbed the biggest, heaviest tree limb that he could find and threw it down at Coyote and his kids. It killed all of them and Scrat, having won the battle, took them to the edge of the mountain cliff and threw them down into the canyon.

Author's Note: In the original story, Buffalo helped Porcupine cross the stream by letting him crawl inside him. Porcupine gnawed at one of his main blood vessels and when Buffalo got to the end of the stream he instantly fell over. Coyote and Porcupine found flint and the one that could jump over the buffalo without falling would be the one to butcher Buffalo. Porcupine fell when he tried to jump over the body and Coyote just jumped over his tail. Since Coyote got to butcher Buffalo, he sent Porcupine to the stream to wash off his organs and noticed that Porcupine had eaten some, so he instantly killed him. Coyote's feces, that he left at the site, told Coyote when Porcupine had gotten up. After two times of this happening Porcupine threw dirt in the feces mouth so that they could not alert Coyote. So, Porcupine climbed up in a tree and when Coyote came back with his kids, he killed them all.

In my story, I kept the same plot for the most part but changed it in some instances. I also changed the animals in the original story to different ones in mine. The lesson that is taught from this story is that sometimes the one that is known to be kind and helpful is taken advantage of by "sly ones."

Bibliography: Coyote and Porcupine from Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard

Banner Image: Black bear at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve from NPS

Image Source: Mountain cliffs at Yosemite National Park with a tight rope between them from Wikimedia Commons