Not far from where the last wild bear was killed in the early 1900's is the famous Cesky Krumlov Castle with its bear moat... The original Gothic fortification had a moat with water and a wooden drawbridge. Under the reign of Wilhelm von Rosenberg in 1707 the original wooden drawbridge gave way (literally) to a stone bridge with statues of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph to protect the castle. Although back then many believed the statues would be protection enough, others less devout were not so sure, so to shore up the divine protection four bears were put into the moat.. the bear moat has been pretty well kept in operation since then... with a major overhaul in 1999 it was brought up to modern humane standards (I guess that would be bearane standards)... as for the wild bears there is rumor that some bears might now be coming into the Czech republic from Slovakia... a good sign... except lets hope they are not gypsy bears.
I have seen many Grizzly bears and known a few Catholic school girls, and if I needed the best protector, the VirginMary would win hands down.
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