Johnny Bear, and Other Stories from Lives of the Hunted

In the shadow of Yellowstone’s Fountain Hotel, a small troupe of black bears has made a surprisingly comfortable home, thanks to the daily dump of hotel kitchen waste. Among the colorful residents—Slim Jim, Snuffy, Fatty, and the ever‑mischievous twins—Grumpy, a formidable mother, watches over her most peculiar cub, Johnny. The little bear is mangy, clumsy and constantly whining, yet his mother dotes on him, spoiling him with whatever scraps she can find.

When a naturalist steps into the forest in the summer of 1897, he witnesses an intimate moment of bear family life. A towering mother bear confronts the intruder, then calmly guides her cubs up a pine tree, displaying both fierce protectiveness and surprising obedience. Through these early observations, listeners glimpse the fragile truce between humans and the wild, and the quirky personalities that thrive in this hidden corner of the park.