Bear Diary

Hailey trees a bear

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a bear in the yard. Months have passed. This morning Hailey and Sailor were outside and I heard them both barking. A different bark. I stepped out on the deck and they were at the edge of the yard looking into the woods. At the instant Hailey dashed into the woods and I saw a flash of black go up a tree with Hailey firmly planted at the bottom of the tree, barking like crazy. The bear was only a few feet up the tree away from her! I called and with a little coaxing she left the treed bear and both dogs came in. I dashed back outside, but the bear was not in the tree anymore. I walked down into the yard peering into the dense woods as I went. I could hear cracking and snapping of branches. Then I saw it, walking along. I couldn’t tell which bear it was, but it wasn’t huge. I thought to myself, Lynne you’re crazy, get back in the house you fool! I must admit it spooked me a little to be pretty close yet the bear didn’t seem to see me. Back inside I went. I little later I looked out and could see it at the edge of the yard in the dense undercover. I got the binoculars but still could not identity who it was. I am thinking maybe Major since it was all alone and by now Ursa should have abandoned her cubs. And, the cubs know our yard and use it like part of their territory, which it is I guess. Now that the bears have started to visit again I know all will be well. When they are gone things tend to go wrong.

Where have all the bears gone?

You must have noticed that there haven’t been any new entries in my Bear Diary. Of course, the minute I set them up with their own blog, they desert me. It’s just that time of year I guess. My neighbor next to me who lives at the end of our cul-de-sac [Aileen] has reported that she has seen them further down the hill and into the forest. Over the four days or so, another bear has been sighted. First neighbor Aileen saw a large male in her yard and called me up to tell me he was headed my way. I kept the dogs in and watched all windows vigilantly, but no bear. He must have taken a different path. Then, the night before last, our neighbor across the street, Kim, called to tell me the bear had just visited her and was now entering our front yard. Sigh. We didn’t hear the phone call since we were watching a movie, so we didn’t see the bear. Darn those bears anyway! So, I have hopes of seeing one again soon ... Here beary-beary ...

When you least expect them

Yes, when you least expect them, after more than a week of no bear sightings, they show up tonight when I am not prepared. At around 7:25 pm. Daisy wanted out. Now Daisy is in season and is very near approaching her “alone time out” without the male dogs. Since the bears haven’t been sighted in so long, I didn’t even think about looking in the yard before I let her out. Uhm…not the right thing. She immediately started barking, I looked out to see a bear up a tree and ran to the door to call her back in. I only see one bear so I assume it’s Dorie. Daisy is now squatting to pee in the yard, still barking, but ignoring the bear in the tree. Daisy comes when I call her (alarm resonates in my voice) and she comes in. I run for the camera, but of course the minute Daisy leaves the yard the bear is gone. outta here. Before I ran for the camera I did note that there was more than one bear, so not Dorie, but Ursa plus cubs. Within five minutes it was too dark to do anything but say we’d seen them.

They’re back!

I haven’t seen the bears since a week ago this past Saturday when they surprised us first thing in the morning. Our weather has been pretty nice and spring-like, so I’m sure they’ve been wandering further from home base in order to forage for yummy springtime foods. I have no idea what they’ve been eating. The only thing I’ve seen coming up are these strange aquatic plants in the bog area behind our house, and they don’t look very edible or tasty to me. Yesterday afternoon I happened to look out the front window. I had seen something out of the corner of my eye. A cub was coming across the yard. At the same time my phone was ringing; it was my neighbor telling me I had bear visitors in my front yard in case I hadn’t seen them. One cub was already up the tree and the other was just now coming. I grabbed my camera and started taking video. I thought I was being clever by taking multiple, short movies instead of just letting the camera run. DUH. Not a good idea. I didn’t realize the camera was busy storing one movie while I thought I was getting some great bear antics. So, I have some nice shots of the floor when I thought the camera was not recording as opposed to great ones when I thought it was recording, but it wasn’t. I think I need a few more lessons in movie mode. Too bad I missed the best part of their visit. All three bears, including Momma Ursa were up the tree at the same time, then down that tree and raced across the yard to climb another. They were having such fun together as a family unit. But, alas, I missed that part. You’ll just have envision it for yourself and hope they come back again soon. In the meantime I only have this pitiful little clip to share with you.

Bear Tree

These photos were taken last week when the bears were pretty active (and we still had snow on the ground!). These were taken with me standing at the edge of our street looking into the woods that border our property. You can get an idea of how far set back the tree is from the road—not very! Second photo is using the zoom lens. That’s Doris all curled up under the tree, by the way.

Wake-up call

Rule #1: Before letting the dogs out in the morning, always look for bears first. Every morning as I get up and go into the bathroom, I always look out the window into the back yard. I don’t really expect to see anything, but you never know. This morning however, I saw Ursa and the cubs in our yard. Oh boy. The dogs have had their legs crossed for about an extra hour now that we managed to sleep in, so they’re raring and ready to go out. Not just yet. Sooooo ... we come downstairs, dogs are barking. I look out and see them still having a bear picnic or whatever on the rock in the woods. I put the dogs’ bowls down and step out onto the deck to see where the bears were while they ate. GONE. That quickly they realized it was time for the dogs to take back over their yard and conveniently left. They are amazing. Within five minutes they were nowhere in sight.

More from yesterday

Not quite through visiting for the day I guess. Just at dark (7:20 p.m.) last evening the dogs started their alarm barking. We looked out the front window to see Ursa and cubs in the driveway. They must have been pretty close to the window when the dogs first saw them. They were headed across the road to the neighbor’s, so I called Kim to warn her but no one answered. I left a message anyway about the bears. About five minutes later she called me and while on the phone her dogs started barking like crazy and she said she had to call me back. Sure enough, the bears were on her doorstep! Good thing she listened to my message first and didn’t let the dogs out as soon as she got home! I don’t much like these late visitations. During the day is one thing, but when it’s dark it’s another. I still think they haven’t adjusted to Daylight Savings time. Plus, this morning I see that she finally managed to break the basin to my bird bath. It lies there overturned with a huge wedge broken out of it. Sigh. I guess a pottery bird bath is not a good thing to have with bears around.

Surprise!

I was going into bear withdrawal. I hadn’t seen the beary-boos in a week; not since they showed up at just dark at the bottom of our deck steps. After seeing them nearly every day, either near my yard or under their Bear Tree, it was very disappointing not to see them. This morning I had gone out to scatter bird seed and decided to clean up the spent shells that had accumulated. I was busy sweeping away, bent on my task. When I straightened up I saw Ursa, Minor and Major standing in my driveway, staring at me. They were still a decent distance away and for some reason I just wasn’t worried. I crooned softly to them and told them if they wanted they could come over and get some when I was gone. They just stood there. I went back inside expecting them to come to the feeding station, but instead they decided to go back into the woods. At least this gives the birds a chance to eat before they decide it’s safe to come back and the weird woman who talks to them is gone. More later ... maybe ... UPDATE They did return and here are the pics. Doris stopped by too, but only after I didn’t think I’d have another bear visit today and put out some cheese popcorn that I didn’t care for. Oh well. Ursa’s beautiful head A beary butt Minor Major Look at those claws on Minor! Yikes ...

Daylight Savings in Bear Time

Well, the beary-boos never cease to amaze me. Today they were out under Bear Tree ( I promise to try and take a photo soon so you’ll know what I’m talking about.) for almost the entire day, snoozing away. I took Al to the vet at 3:10 and returned home at almost 5:00 and they were still there. Just now, at 7:15, the dogs looked out the sliding glass doors on the deck and started their alarm barking. I looked out to see Ursa and cubs at the foot of the stairs to the deck. Yup, almost dark and here they are; cruising the yard. This is a bit scary since they are usually in their bear beds this late. We can only hope they adjust to Daylight Savings soon.

Not much activity

The bears haven’t been around since their Spring Fling in my yard. We haven’t even seen them in the woods by their tree for the past couple of days. Sad, really. I miss them when they are not around. This morning on my way out to run errands I could see a bear under Bear Tree; still there when I came back about an hour later. I saw one bear and one cub, so the other cub must have been around somewhere. With the warmer weather I’m sure they are venturing further afield for food.