My grandfather, Bill Roberts (who I got my name from) could be considered a pioneer Florida Cracker. He was born in the "Big Scrub" many years before it officially became the Ocala National Forest. The local settlers were always having problems with predators, in those days - which were very primitive. The predators, panthers and bears were after the hogs and chickens; and the bears even killed calves and occasionally a grown cow. When this happened in the settlements, it meant a posse of sorts. But sometimes the people decided to go big game hunting with no other reason than to exercise the hounds, and in the case of bears, for the meat. One time in particular that my father, Phil Roberts, told me about, was just a regular bear hunt. The thing that made it unusual was Grandfather had planned on making it a training experience for a big, white English Bulldog by the name of "General." The dog had become an aggravation in his old age. He was terrorizing the tame hogs in the community. Grandfather figured he would take General on a bear hunt and maybe it would change his attitude. Well, the hunters had jumped a big male bear and Grandpa was getting close to where the bear was bayed up in a big palmetto patch. Grandpa was driving a wagon and General was sitting on the bench seat next to him. They were having trouble getting the wagon up close because the mule didn`t like the situation either, but General was having a fit to get in the palmettos - it was his first bear hunt. When Grandpa got as close as he was going to get, he told General to "get `im." General piled off the seat almost on top of the bear. There was a terrible yelp and General came out over the palmettos in a rotating spin and landed about 15 feet from the wagon. In 3 or 4 jumps, General was on the seat next to Granpa. When he said "Get `em General!" again, the dog started twisting on the seat and whining but nothing was going to get him back in that palmetto thicket again.
This seemed to cure the dog of terrorizing the tame hog population any more. | 
