Bear-Baiting is an old sport where a bear was chained up, defanged and declawed so that it could battle one or more dogs for the amusement of sadists all over Europe. The entertainment was two-fold: There was the battle between the dogs and the bear; and, there was the surprised look on the dogs’ faces when they had to fight a bear that wasn’t defanged, declawed and chained up.
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Bear-Baiting is a bloodsport. A bloodsport is any sport that pits two animals against one another in battle like dog-fighting or a school-board meeting.
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What was the difference between bear-baiting and bull-baiting? With bull-baiting there was a steak dinner afterwards…
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Henry VIII enjoyed bear-baiting so much, he had his own bear pit. I’d imagine that it’s nice to have a pit. I’ve always wanted one… either that or a hole. Best I could do was a crater in my backyard; but, I got so paranoid about someone stealing it that I buried it and subsequently never found it again…
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By the eighteenth century, England was pretty much over bear-baiting. They preferred a sport that was far more violent and futile. Yes, I AM talking about rugby.
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King Frederick of Sweden received a lion as a gift and fought it against a bear because, when you get a really nice gift, you can’t wait to use it on something.
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Since bears were imported to England and in short supply, organizers did their best to keep the bear alive. This is where the “standing eight-count” rule originated.
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The dogs, however, did not fare so well. In fact, by 1607, England was running out of dogs to fight in the pits. This nation-wide shortage of dogs had wide-reaching consequences: Mail-carriers found themselves unmolested, fire hydrants remained untouched by urine and cats were walking around like they owned the place.
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Bears, who did well in the pit, often became celebrities. They were given nicknames like “Harry Hunks”, “Blind Bess” or “Jason Momoa”…
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In the modern world, “Bear-Baiting” is leaving food out in the woods and waiting for a bear to find it… then killing it. Because nothing impresses people more than knowing you shot a bear eating breakfast from a long way off…
Potatoes and the Promise of More Potatoes 
Thanks for depressing me more Charles, I’m still not over the crying rhino ☹️
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Well, most of that was in the past. As a species, we’ve gotten a little better…
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The photo of the rhino was this week. Poachers tore its horn out. I’ve been crying about it all week. Sometimes I don’t want to live in this world anymore Charles
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It’s good to know how horrific the world can get; but, realize that most people are just as horrified as you by the poachers. We improve but not very quickly.
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Bear baiting is a business up here and it’s utterly despicable. There are camps up north that lay out Dunkin Donuts under a tree all year long to draw the bears in. Then during hunting season, they charge people huge amounts of money to deposit them in a stand in those trees. A challenging hunt it’s not.
😡
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What burns me up is when they park by the road and send their dogs into the woods to flush them out.
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Hunting with dogs is against the law here.
Donuts only.
😒
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So, they might get a beat-cop or Homer Simpson…
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Wouldn’t it be fun to see bears leave cans of beer out in the woods, and then jump on the hunters who came to drink them?
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Add Slim Jims and I doubt there’s a hunter alive that could resist…
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Do you know how to tell the difference between a grizzly’s butt and a rabbit’s butt. One has a bear bottom and the other has a hare bottom. Hahahahahaha!
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It would’ve been nice if I’d known that fact last WEEK when I could’ve used it…
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Exit, pursued by a bear…
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Exeunt… and severely!
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