Backwoods Blog

BLACK BEARS

The Isolation Blues;

reflections during covid-19

Linda and I were sitting at our little red bistro table in front of the house one evening a couple of weeks ago eating some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (Cherry Garcia, I believe) when out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement.  At first I thought it was our black cat slumping along the woods road to our right, about 30 feet away. But this was much too large and much too furry. When it stopped and looked at us we suddenly realized it was a black bear cub. Linda and I had seen the mother bear and two cubs earlier in the summer in the fields next to our house, but never this close!  Of course, this was an interesting sight but both Linda and I were thinking, “Okay, where is momma bear?”  Moments later the little bear rumbled off into the woods and we stayed where we were, cautiously finishing our ice cream.

I’ve experienced numerous bear encounters on the property through the years (I’ll save those stories for later) but we’ve never had them venture quite this close to the farmhouse.  Of course, we’ve always had dogs until two years ago so I suspect that was a possible deterrent.  In fact, we’ve become over ridden with visiting wildlife lately due to our “no-dog” status; fox, deer, rabbits, partridge, porcupine, too many damn squirrels, skunk, wild turkeys and now bears! I never know what I’m going to find when I walk into our shed. Black bears are just the latest addition to the list…

A couple of nights later Linda and I were once again sitting at the little red bistro table (no ice cream this time) and look who’s coming down the woods road?!  It’s the same little bear like he’s on his regular evening walk. It’s deja vu all over again and Linda and I just look at each other in amused bewilderment. You might be wondering if this is the end of the story, but wait.

So it’s Sunday morning and Linda is in Houlton teaching her yoga class.  I’m sitting at the little red bistro table having a cup of coffee before zoom church begins and here they come; two black bear cubs slowly crossing the front lawn.  As I said earlier, I’ve had numerous bear encounters but I’ve never had a camera until now! I snap a series of shots on my iPhone and then they disappear into the trees. I head into the woods too (what am I thinking?) hoping to cut them off before they get to the river, but they have circled back to the edge of the woods and they are playing around and under my canoe which is stored upside-down on two sawhorses. They didn’t seem to notice me at all. Well, I got my photos and a little video and in the end it looks like everybody was happy. Below, you’ll see a pic of one cub scratching his back on a Norway spruce.

To be continued…

In the woods,

Dave

August 21, 2020