Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Tennessee--North Carolina, Open All Year

“The fellows had no previous experience with bears, so they ran off, trying to put as much space as possible between them and the bear. The men and the bear ran into a nearby building at the recycling center where the terrified cub climbed a metal I-beam as high as she could go, trying to find a safe place. None of the workers who’d seen the bear spoke English as their first language. The closest word any of them knew to describe the animal was raccoon. So they ran to their boss shouting, “Raccoon! Raccoon!!””

— Unknown

“A fed bear is a dead bear. Remember when you’re in the Park, it’s their home. We are only visitors.””

— Unknown

“…an area so biologically diverse that it was designated as a world environmental treasure by the United Nations.””

— Unknown

“They aren’t native to the area. These wild pigs are a cross between free-ranging domestic hogs and massive, wary Russian wild boars imported by a wealthy businessman for his private hunting lodge on Hoopers Bald, North Carolina in 1912.””

— Unknown

“It’s a rare type of synchronous firefly that lives in a few places around the world. Scientists from Tennessee used to travel to Asia to study them until they realized we had them right here! Nowadays in June, tens of thousands of people come from all over the world to see the show.””

— Unknown

“The technical term for a gang of skunks is a surfeit.””

— Unknown