I hope you’re not tired of seeing bear photos just yet. I do have to record them here on the blog when they come around.

Yesterday afternoon I tossed out some stale snack food, chips, and crackers that I had crumbled up for the squirrels. (My way of recycling!) I was typing away here in the office and the dogs were in here with me. I turned around to look out the window and there was Momma and the three cubs! The dogs had not seen her yet, and since the air conditioning was on (hurray!) the windows were closed. The cubs have grown since I first saw them two weeks ago and it’s hard to tell which one was the little one now. They settled in for a good snack.

hmm ... what’s that? ... oh look ... i found something interesting ...

a peanut! yum!

now just how did i find myself in this ridiculous position? is that my hind foot or my front foot?

Feeling comfy and just hanging out in this nice lady’s yard underneath this nice big tree.

I kept this photo in because it shows how large her leg and paw are! yikes.

Pretty soon the cubs got tired of munching and headed up the big oak tree. They settled themselves on branches high up in the tree (level with the top of my house’s roof) and fell sound asleep. I felt like I was hosting an afternoon sleep-over party! Momma Bear stayed below and patiently waited.

I went outside with the video camera and my digital camera to try and get some shots. I was pretty close to Momma Bear but on the opposite side of the fence from her. I took my time and gauged her reaction to my being so close. She looked up at me and made eye contact a few times but never budged. When we get the video put together I’ll be posting it here on the blog in the next few days or so.

I tried to get photos of the cubs in the tree but the branches were in the way. One cub literally hung himself on the branch with all his legs dangling down leaving only his body for balance. Sound asleep!

This one has its head propped up on the branch using it like a pillow while his two front legs hang off on either side.

When I took the photo above I didn’t realize that two cubs were cuddled up together.  Can you see them both in this photo? The lighting conditions were not ideal since the sun was behind them.

They slept for about 45 minutes, sweet as can be. Finally one cub came down first and Bella’s barking finally got to Momma. She started off with the one cub. A second cub came down the tree so fast it was unbelievable and dropped from about 12 feet up to catch up with Mom. I heard the little cub that was left alone in the tree start crying as it came ever so slowly down. (Maybe it’s tree climbing skills aren’t quite as developed as its siblings.) Such a pathetic mewling noise! Momma immediately turned around and came back to the bottom of the tree to wait for it. Once the family was fully reunited, off they went.

Keep watching for the video to be posted!