For those of you who think living on the coast of Maine is bucolic, I got up at 6:00 yesterday morning to find a black bear breakfasting at our bird feeders just outside our bedroom window. He sat up on his haunches, looked me straight in the eye, then galloped off through the woods towards the Snow's house, where he has decimated their bird feeders twice this spring. He left our black sunflower seed feeder in pieces but salvagable. I still haven't found the suet feeder.
About 45 minutes later he loped across the road about 20 feet in front of me on my morning walk. Didn't look right or left, just made a lot of noise crashing through the underbrush. He looks like a young 'un. Maybe two years old. About the size of a big Newfoundland. I suspect Mom has booted him from the den and he hasn't quite figured out how to forage for himself in the woods. And birdfeeders are such easy pickings!
After lunch he sauntered down our driveway, as if he owned the place, tried the gate to our vegetable garden to see if it was open. It wasn't. Decided not to flatten it or tear it off it's hinges -- nothing ripe in the garden anyways -- then ambled through the woods towards the Blacks' house, where he ravaged their bird feeders, too, for the third time this spring!
Needless to say, Kinsey's on a very short leash these days and I'll think twice before I go barging out the back door to the compost pile. We brought our bird feeders inside last night and I haven't hit the road for my morning walk this morning.
Our bear didn't stick around long enough for a photo op so I can't take credit for the photos above. The first one came, sadly, from www.qualitytaxidermysupply.com, the second from www.librarythinkquest.org.
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