Hick gave me a surprise the other day when he said somebody posted on the Facebook page of our enclave that they saw a BEAR! It was about a half mile down the gravel road, at the road where our Scarlett first ran away and sat on a lady's porch. That's too close for me! This is NOT the Smoky Mountains! We are not known for our bears, even though Missouri now has a bear-hunting season.
Anyhoo... the next day, as I went out the kitchen door for my town trip, something in the woods behind our house caught my eye. No, it was not a bear. Too small. Something dark, lumbering through the leaves and fallen trees, about Jack size. I'm guessing it was the woodchuck I saw last week out by the big sinkhole as I was leaving the driveway. At first I thought it was a beaver, but it didn't have a flat tail, nor the rat-like tail of a muskrat. Just a medium furry tail.
Anyhoo... I really don't want to think of a bear around here. Maybe that's why the dogs bark their fool heads off at night! I'd rather pretend they're barking at a woodchuck.
There have been several sightings of bears, and many have been close to town. One mama had 3 babies, crossing the highway. There was an accident recently reported, where a young driver hit a bear. Driver okay, bear died instantly, so no suffering. Usually, we watch for deer on the roads around here, not bear. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteI see deer all the time. One almost jumped into the side of T-Hoe when I was going down Mailbox Hill last week, but turned and ran back into the woods. There's also a lot of turkeys around. One of my teaching friends hit a turkey on the way to work. It set off her air bag, and she had to get her car repaired.
DeleteThat is scary! Some woman reported a mountain lion or some big cat about 10 miles from my house and I lived in a city. For a year I would not go out after dark. I would be terrified if someone reported a bear. Maybe the noisy dogs will keep the bear far away from your door!
ReplyDeleteI saw a big cat crossing the road one morning at dawn, on my way to work. It was about 50 miles from here, in the middle of nowhere. Looked like a panther to me. Low to the ground, long tail. Bigger than a dog.
DeleteI hope our dogs don't tangle with a bear! Hick said Scarlett had a cut on her side last week, but I couldn't find it under her fur. She's not a fighter. Their barking is hopefully annoying enough.
Just this morning, Hick accused Scarlett and Jack of taking their food dishes, and the cup he uses to dip out their dog food, into the front yard/field. They've never done this before. Hope it's not some critter coming up on the porch at night. The most I've seen is Scarlett leaping around, stepping on the dish, flipping it off the porch onto the sidewalk. Never carrying it in her mouth. Jack is a chewer, but not of metal! He prefers Diet Mountain Dew bottles when Hick leaves on in the Gator.
I hope it isn't a bear and have no idea how big a woodchuck is, would a woodchuck carry off the food bowls?
ReplyDeleteA woodchuck is a groundhog. I don't think they're known for carrying things! We've had possums and raccoons on the porch before, but they didn't carry anything off. The squirrels eat the dry dog food, but don't carry anything bigger than those kernels.
DeleteI can only imagine another dog taking the food bowls. Copper Jack has never bothered them. The previous dog next door, Penny the yellow lab, was always taking Hick's decorative rabbits and turtles from his rock garden. So maybe there's some kind of new lab/retriever in the neighborhood.
We had bobcats in the woods around the RVpark, but fortunately, a neighbor was a taxidermist and wanted to set traps. The taxidermist is a woman, but she hunts and whittles wood. I once tried to hook her up with Kevin. He was not impressed with her no make-up, men's clothes wearing appearance. In fact he said, "Here I was looking for a Marilyn Monroe and you try to hook me up with Bob the Builder!" We most certainly have bears, deer, wild cats and ferral cats here.
ReplyDeleteThere's a man for every woman (who wants one). I'm pretty sure our neighbor would have liked that taxidermist. Even though he already has a wife, who he relies on to mow the yard, and fix him a bowl of soup when he comes home, so he doesn't starve to death while waiting.
DeleteI panic every time I read about your bear. I couldn't stand knowing there was a bear roaming around near my house. Oh, wait...