Wednesday, May 18, 2016

For the Birds, I Said!

So much for bear best practices! The bird feeders were left out again and around 4:15a on Tuesday morning this happened.

I love that the term for this color of black bear is "cinnamon"!

Apparently switching on the porch lights doesn't make a bit of difference to a scavenging black bear, but I think it could hear the click of the camera because it would pause after I took a photo. It would also eat a bit, look around, eat a bit, look around, eat a bit, then go back down the stairs, return a minute later, and repeat. I waited a few rotations so I could get pictures and get a good look - I mean, I hope this is the only time I am ever a yard-and-a-half from a live, loose bear - then I banged on the window with my palm, followed by banging on a metal dog dish with a spoon from the doorway. After it appeared to be gone, Eric and I gingerly sneaked out to retrieve the feeders, both reachable from the deck. Of course, Betty and Delia stayed upstairs and away from any opportunity to give chase.

LATER THAT MORNING: According to the snoots on these dogs, the bear seemed to have come and gone over the fence near the driveway rather than on the National Forest side and also spent some time under the deck.




4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Super cool! Oddly enough, I think Eric and I are the only people who weren't scared by this!

      Delete
  2. How exciting! If I would have been outside when this happened I would have been freaking out. But I think like you, being inside the house, I would have been more "Oh my gosh this is so freaking cool!!!" Not cool that he's eating your bird feed but I mean, how often do you get to see a bear that close.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right? I feel really lucky that I got to see this, photograph it, and that the worst thing that happened was that the iron bird feeder hook is bent.

      Delete

It feels so good to read comments! If you're leaving one (or more!), THANK YOU! If you're not... c'mon, already!