A Visit From a Black Bear

As posted by Jackie on TheLittleHalfAcre.com.

We woke up this morning to find black bear scat outside a bedroom window. This confirmed what we thought might have been a bear on our front porch a few nights ago, at oh-dark-thirty, rummaging around empty cat food bowls.

Nothing like sleeping with one eye open-- knowing there's nothing between you and a hungry bear but an open window four feet away, with only a screen.

This was our second verifiable visit in about 5 years. We actually watched one young bear bend over our bird feeder's wrought iron stand like a pretzel to get to the suet. We chased him off. They can run fast.

We aren't overly concerned except that this time of year mama bears are scrounging with their cubs. It would not be a pleasant experience to walk around a corner and blunder upon a cub. Mama bears are notoriously protective.

Jackie's main concern is going up to the shed to check on microgreens and plant starts in pre-dawn half light conditions.

We're starting to see heightened encroachment of all kinds of critters since adjoining property was sold to a conservancy. There are hundreds of acres of pristine undeveloped woodland behind us now.

So no more food bowls with food residues left on the porch overnight. Nope.

And I think we're going to buy some bear spray.