. . . since we've seen a bear! Those of you that have been reading the blog for a long time will remember the frequency of bears in my yard. Since the bear hunt has been re-established in New Jersey we have not seen even one.

Lately neighbor Aileen has been telling me that they've seen a good sized male and some masons that were working on her chimney saw a female with two cubs. Yesterday morning, which was trash day, I opened the curtains to see that our trash had been pilfered and was strewn all over the ground by the trash can. Bear! It's been a long time since our garbage has been disturbed.

Last night as Rick and I were cooking dinner, the phone rang. It was neighbor Aileen who was on her way out when they encountered the bear in the road just past our house. She said he was headed our way. I looked out the window but didn't see him. Bella was on the back deck and a few minutes later she started barking and looking towards the woods. I went out and sure enough, here comes Mr. Bear! I got Bella in and headed to the front of the house to see if he would come in the yard. Sure enough, that sweet bear walked right up my front yard.

I was jumping up and down with glee just like a little kid. I grabbed the camera and stepped out on the front porch. He wasn't too bothered by me at all. He's a beauty!

He started to head straight for Kim's yard across the street and I could see that her dogs were out but they hadn't spotted the bear yet. Rick quickly called her to tell her about the bear about to enter her yard and she immediatley called them in. The bear froze for a minute when he heard her calling the dogs and decided to walk straight up the road instead. We watched as he strolled away in no particular hurry.

Welcome back beary-boos!

How cool! And such clear photos. It’s not bear hunting season now, is it? I don’t have to worry about the immediate fate of this bear, I hope.

Steve, no worries! Hunting season for bear is right before they go into hibernation. Everyone on my end of the street loves the bears and they don’t mind them being around, so at least they won’t get reported for bad behavior.

WOW!  That’s a big’un!!!!So glad you were able to get pics of him and that no dogs were harmed

Bigsis, not sure if he would have really bothered the dogs but the dogs would probably try to go after it and that might provoke it. Plus, Kim would never be able to get them in once they saw it. Terriers, ya know!

WooHoo!!!  Welcome back indeed!  He’s gorgeous!  Or I guess since it’s a male I should say devastatingly handsome.