Bears...Oh My!

Returning from a club run on Sunday, 5/5/13 we discovered a large black bear in our backyard. While we have bears as frequent visitors, this time it was special. She was not alone as she had 2 very small cubs nearby. When our dogs became aware of them and began barking the cubs scampered very quickly up the large oak tree.


They scooted way up, 70' in no time!


We were amazed how fast and how high they climbed. Momma did not seem too concerned.


She slowly ambled down our yard and made for the bird feeder. We were about to get a very close encounter!

With some very large claws she gently held onto the bird feeder and using her tongue she got all the seeds. We have some very considerate bears as they have visited us many times over the years and while they usually take the feeders down, they don't destroy them. (Sorry about that window, it is a mess because of the dirty birds.)

"HELLO! Just letting you know you're out of bird seed."

That is bear breath on the window. After checking us out she visited our compost containers, knocked them over, then went back to her cubs. On the way she did a strange shudder dance, with some foot stomps which must have been an all clear signal for the cubs as they soon shimmied down from their high perch. She got one cub at a time, sauntered off into the woods with them. We have decided not to put the bird feeders back up for awhile. It was a nice visit but we don't want to make her too welcome. .