We’re going on a teddy bear hunt

HAVE you noticed a dramatic increase in the number of bears hiding around town?

A group of dedicated teddy bear hunters have been on the lookout for the furry best friends and have spotted hundreds outside of homes and in living room windows.

Nearly 3000 budding bear hunters have joined the We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Ballarat Facebook group and have shared more than 550 addresses where teddies have been spotted.

Katie Miller founded the group with three other women and said the group is “overwhelmed” by the support of the community.

“We’ve only had the page up and running for about a week and already so many people have joined the group and put some soft toys out for everyone to see,” she said.

Creative spirits have been flowing, as people set up various activities for their teddies to perform.

From imitating a golf game to watching television, soft bear spotters are eagerly posting the hilarious scenes in the Facebook group.

Ms Miller said it’s great to see people getting some exercise while going on their own bear hunts but urges families to practice safe social distancing when outside.

“We love that people are going for walks with their kids, but please don’t gather around a certain house or organise a catch-up or anything like that,” she said.

In future, the founding members hope to encourage the community to embrace the bear hunt as an annual event.

“It would be nice to make this a yearly thing, so that kids and parents can remember some positivity from what has been a pretty negative start to the year,” said Ms Miller.

To ensure that teddies are found, an online map has been created so that families can check out addresses with particularly exciting scenes.

For more information, or to add your address to the online map, check out the group’s Facebook page, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Ballarat.