I’m pretty sure Goldilocks lives in my neighborhood, and she must have fired her chef. Her bears are very hungry and have taken to foraging on the edge of my yard.
This morning was the third day in a row I saw at least one bear within yards of me and the Rotweiller! Yesterday it was the mama and 3 cubs, and shortly after, a cub again alone, running across the road about 600 yards away. The day before that, a mid sized bear strolled out of my neighbor’s driveway and shuffled across the road and disappeared in the ditch. I didn’t see it cross the field into the bush on the other side so I wasn’t sure where it went. It was a little freaky I must say.
I seem to walk the dog at the same time the bears are looking for brekkie. I tried a later walk yesterday but clearly it wasn’t late enough. Then mother and cubs appeared in the early evening. I can’t win.
The neighborhood bears are normally quite afraid of people as most folks here know how to keep them away from property and livestock, and it is NOT by shooting them! So I”m not so much scared of them – not like Stephen Colbert scared, but they do make me nervous especially with the dog – he can be a mouthy little guy and I”m sure to him the bears are just another big dog.
This morning I had a noisemaker with me (how many “signs” do I need!?). The black bear made its appearance between the neighbours’ property about 300 yards away, it seemed to sorta pop its head out of the bush, and before I knew it he was full on – standing in the ditch. Yes, I turned and went the other way and of course Buzz was making his best tough dog noises! After we’d retreated for a few yards, I looked back to see where the big animal went. It was still standing in the driveway looking at me. I told the dog to sit and gave the noisemaker a few strong shakes, and the bear took off, surprisingly fast too. The tall grass of the field didn’t quite hide his lumbering gait to the safety of the trees on the other side.
I like the early hours. Birds singing, sun shining, sometimes I’m treated the the dew diamonds – it’s a privilege- the morning is. Bears are also part of the privilege. They are sacred to many cultures. I respect them.
The signs need to be changed – we know not to feed them. But we need to know not to shoot them.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.