If you've read two of my previous posts (Close Encounters and I am so Ashamed), you will be aware that a bear has decided that it likes this neighbourhood.
I've told you about it standing on the first step up to my porch and my feeble reaction to that.
I've told you about the nectar feeders that got crunched and the terrible smell coming off this bear.
Now I have to tell you about the next installments to this story.
Since that Thursday night when the bear ate four of my best nectar feeders I've been very careful about bringing all feeders in. That includes the peanut butter feeder which I'm using a lot, lot, lot these days as the hairy and pileated woodpeckers come by at least 8 times per day to get peanut butter to feed their nestlings. But bears are, apparently, attracted by the smell of peanut butter.
This regime was going well. I hadn't seen the bear but more importantly, I hadn't smelled the bear.
And then I was doing my feeding rounds on Friday morning. The Carden Challenge was starting at 6 pm that day and I was focussed on the planning for the event as I walked around the property. As I came near the end of my route which takes me past the back of the house and over to the kitchen window, I noticed something odd about my woodshed door. Something was wrong with it. It was broken!
Looking more closely, I noticed that pieces of my little tabletop barbecue (new this year and used only once) were strewn on the ground beside the broken boards of the woodshed door. The bear had made another nocturnal visit, broken into the woodshed and cleaned my barbecue for me. As the woodshed is actually attached to the house, I could very well say that the bear broke into my house!
Sigh.
The neighbour says he has some boards that can be used to replace those broken by the bear but I'm thinking solid steel might be the better bet - three inch thick solid steel. I jest, of course, because I am committed to being braver about this bear. I cannot, after all, continue to be shamed by the 94 year old woman living across the road.
So I'm not letting this bother me. Three days later and the door has still not been repaired. Okay, okay, so this may be because I was busy doing the Carden Challenge and the Carden Blitz during those days. But I'm really not letting this bother me.
I managed to put the barbecue back together again. The grill is slightly bent but the barbecue is otherwise okay. I used it to grill a hamburger on Friday before the Challenge. Knowing that I could no longer leave the barbecue in the woodshed, I have set it on the steps down to the cellar. The bear will have to break through 2 doors to get to it. Unfortunately, if I don't remember it's there when I go down to do the laundry, I am likely going to break a neck or a leg when I trip over it.
And so we arrive at tonight. I had had to bring many of the feeders in at 4:30 thanks to the raccoon who is arriving earlier and earlier each day, trying to get to the feeders before I bring them in. It has its favourite feeders and tends to leave the others alone so those I left out until early dusk. Finally, it was time to bring them in. As I stood at the feeders, I heard the crackling of branches across the road. A large dark shape moved around - obviously it was the bear but I took the time to get my binoculars out of the car to look at it......see how brave I'm getting.
Yup, it was the bear all right. So I brought in the rest of the feeders leaving out only three nectars feeders that I can access from the front porch. The hummingbirds were still feeding and I couldn't bear to leave them without their feeders.
In I came at no great pace. And then peered out the window every five minutes to see if the bear was going to cross the road. At one point, the raccoon seemed to arch its back like a frightened cat and it ran away onto the wood pile. Ah, I thought, the bear is coming. But I waited and looked and couldn't see it. After I had given up looking, I happened to be passing the window and saw a black shadow pass by the end of the woodpile.
Bear was back. He wandered around the yard a bit, headed over to my shed (the one not attached to the house) and I thought he was going to head over to the neighbour's property. I ran upstairs with the binoculars and checked through every window but no bear.
Then I remembered the three nectar feeders still out on the porch. Checking carefully, I opened the door and brought them in, deciding that the bear had likely headed north. Then I thought to check the woodshed. The door was still broken after all. Upon going out into the porch that links the woodshed and the house, there was that bear smell. I looked out the window (there's more of that bravery...or is it foolishness?) but no bear.
He really had gone north except......when I returned to the living room, I noticed that he was right up on the front porch where I had just been to bring in the last feeders. He sniffed but found no feeders to crunch. He even sniffed the front door. Then he strolled back across the driveway. At that point, I opened the window and started yelling at him. He looked over his shoulder at me and then went back to sniffing at the tree where the peanut butter feeder normally hangs. I kept scolding him and finally he tired of my nattering and trotted off across the road.
And that is my story. It's late now and I'm off to bed, hopefully I won't be dreaming about bears knocking at my front door.
No comments:
Post a Comment