Note to bears everywhere: Don’t mess with Jane Fonda.
Jane Fonda made her big-screen debut in 1960 in the romantic comedy, Tall Story. Since then she’s starred in over 56 movies and shows. She’s also won two Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy. In conclusion, Jane Fonda is Hollywood royalty. But Fonda is more than just a show business icon, she’s also a fierce grandma. In fact, even bears are afraid to mess with her when she’s on g-ma duty. During an interview in 2010, Fonda talked about a time she scared a bear away from her grandson’s baby crib.
“I had a bear in my bedroom, and I wasn’t married to one,” joked Fonda. “It was about 10 years ago. I have a ranch in New Mexico. It was about 10 o’clock at night. And my one-year-old grandson was in a crib in the corner. And it was a log cabin, a very small room. I heard a weird noise outside and I got up to try to see what it was. And my dog, iI had a golden retriever, came running out of my bedroom barking and howling. So I went running in and right there, walking from the hole in the screen door that he made all the way to the crib was a bear. And I didn’t know what to do. You know what I did?”
How Did Jane Fonda Scare The Bear?
Jane Fonda then stood up, extended her arms, and screamed loudly. Hey, if we were bears, we’d be afraid too. And her tactic worked – it scared both the bear and, later, Fonda’s granddaughter.
“The first time I told that story to my granddaughter she said ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ It scared her half to death,” said Fonda.
She added that she had learned that maintaining eye contact and asserting dominance is the key to scaring away bears.
“But you want to growl. You want to put your eyes on them, don’t take your eyes off them and growl really loud and make yourself really big,” said Jane Fonda. “The bear stopped and turned around. So I growled again and then it urinated on my rug, it really made me mad. And then it walked halfway out the door and sat down. So, I pushed from behind and slammed the door…It’s funny to have a piece of glass between you and a bear.”
Jane Fonda actually pushed a bear with her hands! Now, that is one fierce grandma to the rescue.
