Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bear

On our stroll back north along the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ, we had the opportunity to see a Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bear, which was frolicking on the beach with its owners. The Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bear, you see, is one of the most recently discovered mammals. It was first discovered in the early 1980's, in Eastern Bulgaria. It's discovery did not occur sooner due to its striking resemblance to the normal golden retrievers we have here in the United States.

In and of itself, the siting of one of these LBMBs wouldn't be particularly noteworthy. Often, in life, you see different forms of wildlife. What makes it noteworthy is that a police officer, patrolling the shore, made the mistake of thinking that the LBMB was actually a GR.

We tracked the movements of the police officer from near the boardwalk, across the beach, out to the group with the LBMB. I found it comical, as the police officer was walking about the same speed as the group, so he didn't make up any ground for a long while. Eventually, though, the group slowed, and the policeman (who was in no shape for a high-speed - or low-speed - chase) confronted the group.

The confrontation was taking place quite a ways from us, so we couldn't hear the conversation. But, I assume it went something like this:

Policeman: I'm sorry, but you CANNOT have a dog on the beach. Did you not see the signs that strictly prohibit dogs from being on the beach and boardwalk?

LBMB Group: Sure. We are aware of the policy. That is why we didn't bring our dogs to the beach with us today.

Policeman: Huh? Clearly, this is a dog you have with you.

LBMB Group: Ahhhh ... you're mistaken.

Policeman: What?

LBMB Group: Sammy is a Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bear.

Policeman: A what?

LBMB Group: A Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bear. And, we read the signs, they don't say ANYTHING about not having Lower Bulgarian Miniature Bears on the beach. Nor do they prohibit horses, cows, cats, parrots, goats, sheep, chickens, etc.

The police officer was clearly outmanned on this occasion. However, it is anyone's guess as to how the situation turned out. A reasonable officer of the law would probably just turn and walk away. However, if cut from the wrong cloth, the policeman may have been embarrassed by his misidentification of the transpiring events, and he may have arrested at least part of the party in order to save face. We left mid-conversation, so there is no telling exactly what happened.