Dr Jim's Adventures in Fandom

No, I’m not talking about Yogi or Gentle Ben. I mean real salmon-eating, tree-clawing bears out in Yellowstone or Yosemite. And I don’t mean bears in general, I mean specific bears.

There are some pretty small and esoteric fandoms, but until recently I was not aware that specific bears actually have fan clubs… groups of people who show up each year to spot and photograph specific bears.

I know, someone out there is going to say, “Of course, the scientists who study and track bears do just that!” But I’m not talking about the scientists whose job it is to study the bear population. I’m talking about average, ordinary people who know a particular bear’s range and habits, and show up each year where they believe the bear will be to spot them. In a way it’s similar to train spotting. Except the bears don’t run on tracks or keep to a strict schedule.

I’ve watched birdwatchers do some pretty ridiculous things to spot a rare bird. I remember watching boatload after boatload of birders step out of a boat into waist-deep water off of one of the island of the Dry Tortugas to get a glimps of a black noddy. The island is a bird refuge, and the birders wanted to see the noddy but not disturb them. So it came as no surprise to see the bear watchers do some strange things too. Noddies, however, are not known to attack tourists.

Personally I’m inclinded to accept bear-spotting as a hobby, thus a form of fandom. But I’m not sure if the gathering of fans each year could be called an event. Yes, bear watching is open to the public, but it’s not done at a specific time and place. Now perhaps if the bear watchers had a convention…