 |
Ray Soucie - Not Your Average Bear (Saving Man) | By KRYSTLE RICHMAN | The Mat? Factor, a twenty-four-hour cafe located in downtown Manitou Springs, is a bit eccentric, much like its customers. Inside, the cafe has a very homey feel to it?which, along with the drinks, is the main draw.
Ray Soucie, 45, happened to find this place on a whim a couple of years ago and has been a devoted customer since then. One can usually find Soucie sitting at a cozy side table with a friend?new or old?sipping his Yerba mat? herbal tea; and, more recently, typing away on his new Dell laptop.
Although not a native of Manitou, Soucie fits right in with the colorful locals. He is known as a peculiar man with many interests and hobbies, from collecting duck memorabilia to recently becoming a one-man bear rescuing squad.
Originally from outside of Chicago, Soucie says his car brought him to Manitou about twelve years ago. After having visited on numerous occasions, he was drawn there to settle because of his liking of the town and his love for hiking.
Well, that is the story he tells all of his new acquaintances. James, his friend and fellow lounger at The Mat? Factor, remembers the first time he heard that account.
?From the very beginning, there was no question in my mind that Soucie was a one-of-a-kind fellow,? says James. ?Right away, he tries to fool you with his tasteless jokes, like the one about having his car bring him to town.?
Soucie will come right out and admit to being a jokester. He constantly reminds others of his sense of humor and his tendency to go off on various tangents while conversing.
He is also quick to establish a network for all he meets. After explaining how he ended up in Manitou, it is not uncommon for Soucie to pass off a business card?any color of the person?s choosing?for his electronics business, ?Satellite System Repairs.?
His calling card is typical of what a person would expect from the owner of his own business: full name, address, and contact numbers. However, there is one exception?printed in the bottom right-hand corner of the business card is the name: ?Duckman.?
Soucie always pairs an explanation with the handing of his business card. ?As you can see on my card,? Soucie says, ?I also go by Duckman. No joke, but I collect ducks. I have many, about 40 of them to be exact?little, big, wooden, porcelain, suburban wood tree, plastic, and rubber. I?m a little obsessive; even my cell phone ring is a duck?s quack.?
?He is so predictable once you get to know him,? says James. ?He will always proceed to tell how his fetish for ducks developed into one of his hobbies that he has had for about eight years. Once you hear the duck story, you become hooked?there will be no escape from hearing about his other hobbies.?
Sure enough, Soucie describes the history of his duck-collecting hobby: ?I started to collect ducks to help bring out my inner child. I started to carry a little yellow duck around, and then several days later I spotted my dog, a chabrador, rolling in the grass, playing around with it. That was when I realized that she found her inner puppy. My hobby came to me from there.?
The jester in Soucie appears once again at the mention of his ?chabrador.? The chabrador he speaks of is his dog, Bowzer, a ?child Labrador,? whom he takes everywhere.
One quickly finds out about the other hobbies of Soucie?s, including his volunteer position at the Clean Slate in Colorado Springs. He has coordinated a 12-Step program called ?Down by the Stream? for about three years now. His group is a collection of men, ranging in size from four to ten, who meet once a week. The men take turns holding the feather and discussing cultures from 4,000 years ago.
Having learned from previous groups, Soucie explains, ??Down by the Stream? does not exclude non-alcoholics from joining. I do not want the group turning too political like ?Down by the Creek.?? He chokes on his own words in an effort to hold back a laugh; James does not try to suppress his urge and lets out a chuckle.
Soucie?s newest pastime started about eighteen months ago as a joke that seemed to catch on like wildfire. Friends, like James, will be sure to mention that this is the hobby that made Soucie famous.
One night, two friends of Soucie?s were leaving the local barbeque restaurant with their pants smelling of meat. It was not long afterwards that they realized two black bears were following them. Soucie remembers the night vividly, as it just so happened that he and his friends were talking about bears earlier that afternoon. ?I get this phone call telling me that they have bears following them,? says Soucie, ?and I tell my friend that I am on my way.?
The story continues with Soucie?s friends trying to talk an older woman into letting them into her house. Unfortunately, the woman would not let them in because she was afraid the bears would follow. Then, after about an hour of searching up and down Manitou, Soucie arrives and attempts to convince the woman that he was not there to rescue the people; he was there to rescue the bears. Soucie told the woman that she could trust him because he was ?Manitou Bear Rescue.?
It was then that his new hobby, Manitou Bear Rescue, began. Soucie was interviewed by a reporter about his new mission of saving the bears of Manitou and the following Sunday, his story was featured in Colorado Springs? daily newspaper, The Gazette. The next day, Soucie painted ?Manitou Bear Rescue? and his cell phone number on the back of his old Toyota van and his old, brown leather jacket.
Soucie will be the first to tell you that he is an amateur in his role as a one-man, bear rescuing squad. ?I don?t have any formal training, just many occurrences with them and mountain lions on my nightly hiking escapades with Bowzer,? he says.
He continues, ?I was trying to be funny, and then I saw the need for someone like me here in town. It worked out because people needed me. After I put up my number, I would drive around town and get calls from people asking for advice on how to deal with the bears?I try my best to help them out.?
According to The Gazette, Tyler Baskfield of the Colorado Division of Wildlife admits to being a little leery of Soucie and his involvement with the bears given his lack of expertise. Baskfield recommends that if residents of Manitou have an encounter with a bear or if they are nervous with the situation, they should call the sheriff or DOW so they can handle it in a professional manner.
With his three saves?James, Yogi, and Sara?since last January, Soucie is not half bad at his newly acquired hobby. He refers to many of the bears by name, given his many encounters with them on his nightly hikes with his dog.
When called upon for service, Soucie simply calms the situation and helps escort the bear up Ruxton Avenue back to his or her natural habitat. He still reminisces on other bears that were not so lucky: ?Cinnamon was killed on the outside of town by a car when trying to cross the highway. I feel bad for her.?
Soucie is currently in the process of developing signs to post along the highway warning the bears: ?No bear-crossing,? or, ?If you?re a bear, don?t cross here at the highway.? However, he wonders if the signs might be a little too complex for them. ?The bears don?t like to read too much,? he adds.
Soucie still carries the clipping of the story from The Gazette. James tells of how he ?occasionally pulls it out and shows it to others who have not seen it before. The article made him out to be this hero.? He continues, ?It?s funny, but I think Soucie memorized the article; the stories he tells are practically verbatim.?
In addition, he will not practice this pursuit as avidly as he does his others. Soucie explains that when the bears hibernate, he does, too, though in a different manner. While the bears are in hibernation, Soucie tries to educate the community about their presence. He says, ?Bears have been in Manitou for hundreds of years. They only seem more evident because they are being pushed out of their habitats and coming down the mountain. In Manitou, the people are mellow, the bears are mellow, and it?s just a mellow town. There shouldn?t be any need for conflict.?
It is hard to picture Soucie doing something, well, conventional. If he is not collecting ducks, running ?Down by the Stream,? rescuing bears, or cracking jokes, is he earning his living through doing something for his electronic company? For many, Soucie?s life seems to hold so much more than just electronics.
Not surprising, but Soucie does not plan to end his extracurricular activities with his foundation of Manitou Bear Rescue. Taking an interest in his new Dell, he explains that computers are his newest love. Once he learns how to use the new virus protection software and break down the current firewall on his laptop, he will be set. From that point on, there will be no stopping Ray Soucie. |
CC Journalism | About this Site
|
The views and opinions represented in this website are those of the authors and in no way reflect the opinions or views of Colorado College and its employees. To voice your opinion, please go to ‘Letters to the Editor' by clicking on the ‘About this Site' link at the bottom of each website page.
|
|
