I recall reading in, I think, the British magazine 'Shooting Times' a few years back an amusing hunting incident that is connected with Russia. Whether true or not I cannot say but it involved some foreign dignitary that the Russian Government wished to impress by providing a brown bear hunt. The fact that that particular region was devoid in brown bears was not going to stand in their way. So, they built a tree stand overlooking a forest track and for a bear they obtained an old retired circus performing bear. They intended to drive the bear towards the tree stand but unfortunately an old peasant woman was cycling along the same track. Upon seeing the bear she fell from her cycle and ran away in panic. The bear, remembering his former occupation in the circus and training, got upon the cycle and proceeded to ride it along the track towards the waiting dignitary. Upon seeing the bear go cycling by he fell from his tree stand from shock. The story does not relate what happened to the cycling bear; maybe he is still cycling around Russia somewhere. Lagopus.....
