Who's in the woods?

Gorgeous afternoon, hot, sultry. I am coated in bug juice, wearing floppy pants and short sleeves. The chickens have been out for the first time since those coyotes came around. I am sauntering down to the chicken yard to take grass to the duck-ducks.

My stride is slow and relaxed. I can hear the neighbours have guests on their deck. I can smell that the dog has rolled in something dead. The ducks and geese are squawking their heads off, which they always do when they see anyone who might bring them grass. I note the sun highlighting the dust and cobwebs on the sleds in the open shed. I note the bear sitting on his butt 12 feet away from the hen house.

Without breaking stride, I turn around and continue back up towards the house while quickly making several mental notes.
- the bear is small, I could probably take him, but his momma would whup me, I cannot see momma but am pretty sure she can see me, so I'm not hanging around.
- the idiot dog has NOT noticed the bear. Note to self, this dog is a fool. But I do NOT alert him as I don't want him whupped by momma bear, although a whupping might smarten him up.
- glance in open hen door and try to determine if momma bear is IN the hen house while junior plays look-out from outside. Since I hear no racket, I don't think she is, but am not certain.
- quick glance to see if any of the fencing is down or buildings are demolished, none seem destroyed
- note bear slowly get up and plod into forest.

Hub was trying to snooze on sofa while I get eaten by a bear. Sorry bud, not going to happen today! I get him to come with me and we inspect for bear damage. Everyone looks fine. We are careful to scout overhead trees for clingers, since bears and racoons and bobcats can also be overhead threats. It's a beautiful day in the nay-bear-hood.

Pretty glad I live in non- bear country! Yikes!

Maybe .................bandana wrapped over forehead , bullet belts criss crossed and weighing heavily on upper body ...........gun ready and aimed , no sudden movements just a cold stare down .........make your move bear .................

Good suggestions Prairie Dog!

 Holy crap Uno! You are one cool cucumber. I would probably have fainted dead away and became bear lunch meat then and there.

Susan wrote:Pretty glad I live in non- bear country! Yikes!

x 10000000000000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!


 Please be careful....

Honestly Flicker Chick, bears are such a common occurrence that we don't get too excited anymore.

They do shock you when you bump into one unexpectedly so we try to keep our eyes peeled, but with the trees and shrubs around here, a bear can be 5 feet in the growth and perfectly blended. We keep a dog as an warning system, but this current dog is a bit dim.

There is one big bear in the neighbourhood with a very injured hind leg. HE is worry. If I see him staring at me when I'm in the garden, I may get a little fidgety. Maybe there's something to Prairie Dog's RambUno approach after all!

Bears absolutely terrify me. I could not live in serious bear country if you paid me too. Not without being super high strung and flighty anyway. lol We have an old trapper neighbour who lives down the road and drops in for coffee now and again. I was ecstatic when he told us there have been no bears sightings in our area for at least a decade. Apparently we have an old cougar living in the woods though. And not the kind my BIL hopes to find in the bar.... 

Keep your eyes peeled and your survival knife rake handy for Old Injured. And some folks think gardening is a relaxing activity!

We have both bears and cougars, but they are not as brazen as Uno's.

Ah, what a relaxed and beautiful peaceful moment I was spending with you, walking by your side, and then whammo!! Off we went into terror land. Oh, my Gordon!! Youngest Daughter and her clan live on the same mountain as you, probably as the crow flies, a 10 minutes through the bush, to go by car, I am sure it would be half an hour drive, smiling. She too has bears, and cougars and moose and .....oh where was I going with this. You got guts. You got gumption. You know how to handle being around bears. Don't run, collect your thoughts, and slowly take a walk away from the wild side. Yes, that little one probably did have mamma not too far away, maybe that little 'un was the scout, looking for something for mamma to get into. poor Hubby, all he wanted to do was shut his eyes. Wasn't it a most beautiful day? We did a few things, slowly, as it as hot, and pretty humid with all the rain. Our thermometer on our porch in the shade said 34, a lovely temperature in my mind, could be about 29 and I would feel perfect though. Good morning Uno. Thanks for this glimpse into your woodsy part of the world. I know that bushy stuff you talk about. Daughter lives on five acres with a little more cleared than you, but basically on a rock. I think her living, working area is about 1/2 acre, and it is quite flat and well developed with gardens, horse paddock, barn, and it is oh so quiet, except for the sound of the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, quite nice actually....have a most beautiful day, CynthiaM.

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Resident bear here was shot by a hunter recently. Before that, Shannon chased him off with a shovrl one night after turning the corner to meet him.
Horses get a bit worked up, but they're used to them now and get over it quickly.
We have so many here its no big deal to see one in the pasture. Every spring the show up to eat the fresh young green growth.

Where we lived in Armstrong, there was a nature reserve across from us. Lots of bears in there, one kept coming into our pasture and going up the fir tree. It would always knock a board off the fence.

We were too dumb to look up in the tree.   Just thought it was deer knocking the board off.

Then we had 5 heifers out in the pasture and they were all getting sunburned on their backs.

Still didn't click there was something up in that fir tree, that's why they wouldn't go and lay in all the shade they could have had.

Then we went and loaded our horse trailer in a hurry to go get a friends mini's one day, when there was a forest fire across from

them. They had to be ready to evacuate asap. When we unloaded the horses in different paddocks, one of the horses cracked

one of the rails on the paddock fence, and then all of a sudden we saw a big black bear come out of that tree on the run, we

yelled at it, and it really ran, up the mares pasture, and over the fence back into the wildlife reserve. ( must have been shot at)

No wonder those heifers never went under there for shade. We saw a lot of bears around there. Were NOT impressed.  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.].................I'm sure you're younger Uno , but ya get the picture ................eh ?

It is a fairly regular occurrence around here to have near wandering through my yard!! If I have to go out in the evening when it is dusk I usually wander around singing like crazy!! Lol. I sing and the neighbour lady has a pot she bangs, so we sound like a crazy pair if we are both outside at the same time during those critical times!! It also helps that my Pyrenees and Pyrenees/st Bernard are awesome protectors around here and don't normally miss them wandering through. Just the other day I was mowing my lawn and found a spot in a freshly seeded spot that looks like they had a scuffle with a you g bear!! The tracks were left and he left a nice pile to let us know he was here! Lol.

We actually are having more issues with cow moose then the bear!! I've had them rubbing on my house! And the one cow has put the neighbour back in her house a few times!!

Prairie Dog! I see you downloaded my profile pic from my Facebook page. Now how can I be anonymous now that everyone knows what I look like! Busted!

We have black bear around but rarely see them.  There was a big one a few years ago that killed a neighbour's cow.  He was the one that the rangers tried to live trap and, when he got caught, he just ripped the trap apart.  Been a few years so he may be off in bear heaven by now.

The important thing Uno is preparation.  Good to be vigilant and keep a weapon handy but have you given any thought of what to say when the bear is dead or run off?  If Ahnold has taught us nothing else, he has taught us that you must keep a catch phrase close at hand at all times.

I've taken the liberty of knocking out a few so you don't get caught short (best used with the Schwarzenegger accent). Not my best work but Ahnold's phrases are usually clunky anyway.

"Only you can prevent your own demise."

"The bear came over the mountain..,. to DIE!"

"You were NOT smarter than the average bear."

"You must be the bear from the Stock Exchange. Cause you're going down!"

Fowler, you forgot the best Arnold line of all, and I can picture myself standing over an unconscious bear after having bonked him on the head with my feed bucket, which is what I will most likely have in my hand the moment I encounter Mr. Bear. Also please use Arnold accent.

"It's not a tumour!" Just a really big headache,

Don't forget;

"Hasta La Vista, Baby!"


Perhaps most applicable when battling infants but I find it adapts well to a variety of situations.

Uno was that you trying to hit the bears with rocks by knocking them off of the cliffs?