Yesterday Rick and I were sitting in our little cozy space off the kitchen watching TV. I was knitting, making another pair of felted clogs / slippers for Rick since his are wearing through on the sole. When he crosses his legs I can see the shreds of felted wool hanging forlornly down.

We were relaxing in-between new coats of paint [Biscuit Bitz] in our dining room. I wasn’t really paying attention to where the dogs were as they had been in and out dozens of times already. They like to lay on the snow bank that formed on the deck last week when I only partially shovelled off the snow. In part, I did this because I was lazy, but also because as I shovelled from one side to the other, dogs had decided to lay on the piled up snow. So be it, I thought, I’ll leave it for you if you find it that much fun.

I didn’t see it because I was concentrating on my stitches, but Rick said the dogs flew off the deck and now we could hear them barking. He got up to see what they were barking at, turned around and said very calmly to me “I think the dogs need to come in. They have the bear treed.” I jumped up and ran to the window. Yup, there was the bear up the big oak looking worried, and two dogs barking madly and running around the base of the tree. I threw open the door and started screaming their names, or at least I thought I had the right names. Turns out I only had one right, but no matter within a few seconds of my panicked voice calling come here!  and   leave it!, they gave up their quarry and came running for the house. Good Dogs.

The bear lost no time; the minute the dogs left the base of the tree it was already halfway down, and by the time the dogs got to the house the bear was going over the fence. Whew. Another bear vs dog crisis averted. Sorry, no photo. I was too worried for the dogs to leave them in order to get my camera. I’m sure you understand. It would have made a great pic, however. It was Ursa this time, because I could see the cubs in the woods. I watched them playing for awhile, doing their dance routine and rolling around in the snow.

Last week, before the snow, the bears were quite active. I saw them nearly every day as I walked the dogs. I could almost count on them being in the same spot in the woods every day. Ursa, Major, and Minor would just sit and watch me walk by. When the snow started to fly, they retreated into their cozy storm drain cave. Today I will need to be especially watchful as it’s going to be nice and warm. A perfect day to forage around for food.

Maybe I should change my blog name to read “A Bear Walks Through it,” or “Life with Bears.” ?

... for a mid-afternoon bear visit. I was chatting away on the phone to my Mom and looked out into the back yard. I saw a large black bear walking around. I quickly counted the dogs—yup, all four were in the house accounted for—hung up the phone, yelled to Rick to please bring me my camera, and managed to get a few quick shots.

At first I assumed it was Ursa without her cubs, but when I pointed the camera at her I got the impression it was not her. Don’t ask me why, but like I’ve said before, Ursa and I kind of have a ‘thing.’ This bear’s face was somehow different than Ursa’s. I know for sure it wasn’t Doris. I think this was a different bear. Beautiful face though, heh?

This pic isn’t very good, but if you look closely you’ll see the bear exiting our yard via the chain link fence, and she has it pulled down sort of standing on it!

Rick warned me. He didn’t think putting a bird feeder with a suet cake on the deck was a good idea. We had the hook already there from the hummingbird feeder. So, why not? The little titmice and nuthatch quickly found the new food and were fun to watch. The cats thought it was a good idea too as it made for improved bird watching, cat-style. Obviously, you as readers can already tell what’s coming. At least you have fair warning, whereas I did not. I have said many times that I wish I had a camera in my forehead that I could just trigger to catch certain photos. This was one of those times.

It was just after noon-ish. I walked into our sunroom which has large picture windows and sliding glass doors on both sides. We have two levels of deck with stairs leading down to the back yard. Here, let me show you as Sam [the Maine Coon] helps me demonstrate:

Okay, see the deck railing just behind Sam and the stained glass? What I saw when I came into the sunroom was one of the bear cubs standing [yes all four feet] on the railing, looking right at me. His head was just above where Sam’s head is. He looked just about as surprised as I was. I was so shocked and surprised that I did what most people would do. I screamed. I couldn’t help myself, I didn’t have time to think about my reaction. When I screamed the dogs started barking. I saw the other bear cub at the feeder [which would be right in back of that section of wall between the two windows]. The cubs took flight and all I could see was the paw of the one that had seconds ago been standing on the railing. His paw clung to the railing for a second; then he was gone.

It’s quite a drop so I was hoping it wasn’t hurt. Nope, not hurt, there is Ursa down in the yard and there go the two cubs running for the woods. Darn, missed that photo opportunity with my big mouth. But all I could think of at the moment was that the bears did not belong on my deck a few feet away from my house. You can visualize it for yourselves though, can’t you?

I gathered what was left of my wits about me and dashed for the camera. I went out on the deck to take a look. The bears were in the woods, but Ursa was heading back towards the yard. I waited. Sure enough, they entered the yard again. Ursa knew I was there; she looked me straight in the eyes.

She and I have an understanding of sorts. She knows my scent from our earlier encounters in the yard, and she knows it was me that dropped suet down to her when we thought she was stuck in the storm drain. It’s creepy, but there is definitely a connection. She knows I mean no harm, and in return she does none. For a person that has had a terrible fear of bears her whole life, I find my reaction to this bear and her cubs very strange. I named her Ursa after the run-in with the dogs we had earlier in the year. If you missed that post here is the explanation of her name. So, it just follows that I’ve now dubbed the cubs ‘Major’ and ‘Minor.’

They stayed and played awhile and what follows is a photo journal of their visit. I hope you enjoy it. I had to shoot fast, so I set the camera on the sport setting to minimize the blur from their movement.

Ho hum. I kind of like this yard. Let’s stay for awhile.

Hey, what is that lady doing up there? Is she watching us?

Hey, look, cool…a dog toy!

tag…you’re it!

I’m gonna get you now…

okay, let’s dance…but who’s going to lead?

oh, alright…you can lead…

After about ten minutes the cubs started to come up the yard and I knew they were headed for the deck again. So, I took the feeder off the post and looked Ursa straight in the eyes. I said, ‘Okay Ursa, that’s enough. There is nothing more for you here. You should go now.’ She turned towards the woods and ambled off with Major and Minor right behind her.

While I was on the phone telling my mom about my encounter, I looked out towards the back of the yard and noticed the gate looked like it was open. Yikes. Good thing I had not let the dogs out yet. Sure enough, the gate was open enough for the bears to either come in or go out, and the dogs as well. The latch had been tampered with and it wasn’t catching anymore. I put a bungie cord on it to hold it closed. They’ve always just come over the fence before, not the gate! And, the other thing I want to know is did they use the stairs to get on the deck? Or did they climb up one of the poles? The dogs gave the yard a good sniffing when I finally let them out and Alex went right to the gate. So, they must have gained entry via the gate this time. Clever, brazen bears.

Post note: As an afterthought I found this website and learned more about our resident black bears.