Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

I came across the pictures that I mentioned a long time ago I would post, regarding our 'bear-y' unwelcome guest a few springs ago.

Heather and I were sitting in the living room watching t.v. one afternoon. I thought that I heard something but didn't really think about it. We had the bird feeders and sometimes the birds make noise or fly into a window. I got up to go into the kitchen to put away a plate and looked into the back yard. Imagine my surprise when I see a bear outside, sitting on his/her rump eating away at the bird food in the feeders.

I called her over since it isn't something we normally see. We started watching it and I got my camera. I took after my father a little, I guess at first I just opened one of the windows in the morning room to get some good shots with. The bear didn't seem to mind us, though. I then proceeded to go out to the screened porch, open the door there, and take some more. I had a telephoto lens so didn't need to get close, but the bear was still only about 15 feet away.

The bear kept working on the food in the feeders, but later on made it's way back into the woods. I was annoyed that the bear bent the main pole in the feeder system, meaning I would have to buy a new one. I bent the pole back up and hung the clear plastic feeder in the above photo. I put a little seed in it, as I felt bad that the birds wouldn't have any. Heather and I were heading out to hockey, I think. It seems that the bear came back later in the evening, as the dome feeder was missing. Not just off the feeder setup, but I couldn't see it around the yard or in the woods.

The next day I ventured into the woods down my trail, looking for the feeder. I found it about a hundred yards in the woods, close to my trail. It had been licked clean and had some big claw marks in it, but was still good. Earlier that day I had gone to the bird store to get a new feeder pole and dome feeder, but now I could take that replacement dome feeder back.

So, kind of exciting but fortunately the only bear we have seen here. We still get the deer, turkey and sometimes a fox. I actually saw a funny thing last week. There were some hunting dogs in the woods somewhere (hunting dogs can be used during deer hunting season) and I saw a single turkey running in the opposite direction about 10 feet into the trees. Kind of funny watching a turkey run fast like that.