Around the Island

Hunting bears on Shelter Island? Facebook group organizes fun for all

By Tracy McCarthy

On Sunday, April 5, Shelter Islanders went on a big bear hunt all over the Island.

But no worries: No live bears were harmed in this activity.

Islanders set up stuffed bears and other kinds of animals — sloths, seals, turtles, bunnies and more — in front of their houses for people to see as they drove by.

The idea originated last week with Islander Tammi Jernick posting on a Facebook Shelter Island Local group and asking everyone to participate in the “Big Bear Hunt of Shelter Island.”

Ms. Jernick asked everyone to place a bear (or any stuffed animal) outside on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. She also asked people to include their road’s name in the Facebook post to help parents find the locations of the bears while they drive around the Island. The event proved to be a huge hit and was a much-needed diversion for so many.

My daughter, Eliza, must have said at least five times while we were driving around, “This is so fun!” She even brought a clipboard with a piece of paper to write down all the types of bears we saw. When we got up to 30, she was concerned she was going to run out of room, but found enough space to identity 37 different species over a period of about an hour.

There were so many different, creative set-ups, with some bears having a tea party, some enjoying a day at the beach, one sporting a Shelter Island Indians hat, another acting like a raccoon who knocked over a garbage can, and one house that had an enormous display of bears taking over their truck and tree.

People responded so well to this hunt, there is now chatter online to do something next week, maybe with an Easter theme.


Below are some photos by Tammi Jernick of the Bear Hunt, which, as you can see, had all the aspects of community spirit and fun, with witty displays, and also providing connection — with social distancing, of course — for families and friends.