Bear history in mind: Tales of an exotic pet
Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on April 11, 2026 Today I bring you a tale that has been told many times by both historians and writers for The Kerrville Daily Times. A lot of my information comes from articles written by Bob Bennett, Nina Harwood and, most recently, Joe Herring Jr. The earliest account I found of this story was published here in 1936 — not all accounts of the story are the same, but no matter how it is told, it is one of the more interesting stories to come from Kerrville’s past and is a particular favorite of mine. Mountain Street, now Earl Garrett Street, in 1908 - where the bear made a startling entrance. From the time of the Civil War, when the Confederate Army imported camels to Camp Verde as an experiment in military transportation, Hill Country residents have been known to keep exotic animals. The first history column I wrote for The Times was the story of a woodchuck that a Kerrville woman had brought home as a souvenir of her trip to Kentucky....