Memorial Day is drawing to a close and I have no riding or Vespa pictures worth sharing. Aside from my own creative failure I point to a lack of sleep due to a night visitor who kept Kim and I up far longer than anticipated. After watching a movie until almost 3am we were later awaken by a clatter in the front of the house. As I threw up the sash instead of finding jolly old Saint Nick I was face to face with a black bear dining on one of our bird feeders. By the time the local constabulary pushed him down the hill towards the woods I could see the faint glow of dawn. A few more hours sleep and Junior wanted his turn.
So I’m tired and not particularly thrilled at the prospect of returning to work tomorrow. Holidays make me think about retirement.
If you do need some riding fix, check out Poppawheelie’s ride up the Grossglockner Pass road.
Riding in the Alps….
Steve ,
That is truly great.
A bear in your garden WOW.
We obviously don’t get much of that in the uk!!
Great share
Lucky Junior hasn’t an easy way out of the house….or the bear an easy way in.
Great post Steve. Thanks for not telling about night visitors before my visit last summer. I wouldn’t have slept nearly as soundly.
Steve:
I had a bear encounter too but whilst hiking on a trail in Cape Scott NP. It was a mere few feet right in front of me. I froze and didn’t know what to do.
Also I must have also scared another bear and it climbed up a tree and kept looking down at me
Since then I have carried Bear Bells. Just make sure not to leave any more food out
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Nothing like a hungry, spring bear digging up the garden. Did they tranquilize the bear and move it or just chase it off?
Wait a minute Steve … I think that bear just stole your bird feeder! Did the constable arrest him or were they too busy out giving tourists parking tickets?
Am thinking your house is in a quasi-rural area near State College. Hence the obviously young black bear.
Are said animals considered dangerous in the area; that is would the local game commission mark the bear and if he returns to the area then collect him and transport him to a far distant area of the state where he wouldn’t have
encounters with bird feeders or similar?
Rather a bear in the front yeard at night versus a deer on the road with the Vespa.
Love the variety of your posts, Steve! Must admit that I was ignorant to the fact that there are black bears in PA…
reglazeit: But you have the Lock Ness monster!
Charlie6: I can only hope Junior has the good sense to keep his distance from a bear. Most dogs, at least alone, don’t fare well in those encounters.
The past few evenings we’ve been careful to check the yard before we let Junior out.
David Masse: Where you were camping I’m sure there were bears and coyotes nearby. But mostly they stay away from people. Besides, you have wolves and worse up in Canada!
bob skoot: I’ve seen black bears in the woods a number of times while hiking but it was always a sort of fleeting encounter. Never felt they were going to stick around to investigate me. Still, I was always careful to keep the food away from my sleeping bag!
RichardM: The police just chased him off. Lot’s of yearling bears wandering around after mom kicked them out. Around here a bear really has to become a nuisance before the Game Commission will even consider capturing and relocating.
Since we’ve taken the feeders down at night there have been no more visits.
VStar Lady: No tickets or arrests. Bear just moving on down the road…
Bryce Lee: I’ll take the bear in the garden anytime over the deer with the Vespa.
I’ve only heard of one bear attack here since I arrived in the area in the early 1970’s. In that case a person was pursuing a bear in a cornfield with a camera. Turned out the bear was female and he met the cubs. Mother was not pleased nor was the photographer. He had some injuries related to being slashed with those big clawed paws.
Common sense will generally keep you safe with the black bears here. They are pretty shy.
Schnarpsel: Definitely lots of bears here. And whitetail deer, elk, bobcats, coyotes, river otters, fishers, rabbits, squirrels, groundhogs, porcupines, opossums, raccoons and a host of other mammals.
Some people insist we still have mountain lions but there has been no official confirmation of that.
And no wolves…