Bensens in the Mist

I travelled deep into the north woods of Wisonsin this week to observe the Bensens in their natural habitat. I loaded my assistants Erin and Madelyn into our van and drove 9 hours up to Turtle Lake, WI where many of these strange and facinating creatures have been spotted in the past. We were immediatly rewarded as we came across a small herd of Bensens which had congregated by a pond.

They were wary at first, however, Erin, Madelyn and I hid in a nearby stand of pine trees until the Bensens became used to our presence. Eventually they seemed to accept us into the clan. There were Bensens of all ages, shapes and sizes. Most notably there were several young Bensens who were busy eating ice cream sticks and riding on the 4-wheeler.

At one point one of the young ones noticed me and faced me down with his ice cream bar. Things were tense until I was able to diffuse the situation by distracting him with a green bouncy ball.

We were able to discern a definite heirarchy within the clan. The Bensens were led by an elder "gray back" who seemed to prefer Micheloeb Golden Light and kept all the younger Bensens in line.

While the clan was accepting of our presence, we still had to be on our guard. Here Madelyn is cornered by a particularly feisty Bensen who hounded her every move all weekend. Eventually Madelyn was able to placate her with a well timed nap on her shoulder, and a little playtime before bed.

Erin was particularly interested in the smaller of the Bensens. She paid close attention to the smallest of the clan and stood guard over them as they napped.

While Bensens are rumoured to have been poached to near extinction, we found that future generations of Bensens abounded at this locale--somtimes being born two at a time.

The clan entertained themselves deep into the night with what they called "Swedish Horseshoes". This was played by whipping one's balls at a small PVC rack for points and family honor. The games were spirited and played for hours at a time, all the while consuming large quantites of beer. The sport ended late in the night when Bob's balls ended up in the tree.

Watch out if you find yourself cornered by this Bensen when he's carrying tequila.

Eventually we had to return to relative civilization and safety of Indiana. We learned much about the Bensen culture and Madelyn was thoroughly exhausted.