The origin of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor:

For thousands of years humans have been fascinated with bears. The ancient Greeks were no exception.

Zeuss, the king of the gods had a bit of a wandering eye and was smitten by the beauty of the maiden hunter Calista. To stop him from following his fancy, his wife Hera, the goddess of marriage, turned Calista into a bear and she went off to live in the deep forest. Years later  Calista's son Arcas became a hunter like his mother. Calista found herself face to face with this brave hunter and immediately recognizing him, raised up on her hind legs to embrace him. Thinking the bear was going to attack, he readied his spear and prepared to kill his mother. Zeuss, watching from the heavens could not 'bear' to see any further damage to Calista so

he stopped the weapon mid-flght and turned Arcas into a bear like his mother.

To further prevent them from danger he grabbed them by the tails and swung them up into the heavens where they could live peacefully among the stars. Calista and Arcas can still be seen today. The handles of the Big Dipper and Little Dipperr are actually the tails of the Great Bear or Ursa Major and lesser bear or Ursa Minor. When Zeuss swung them into the sky their tails stretched and  these celestial bears have long tails unlike their earhy counterparts.

Every bear is not a star, but they do need our respect. Keep them away from town by managing bear  attractants properly. Bears are curious, intelligent animals who will always go for an easy meal like garbage left outside. If they find a food reward once, they will return.