Sunday, August 16, 2009

Bear in the Garden!

Yesterday afternoon we were out for afternoon tea at a friends getting home around 6:00 pm. Some of the plants needed watering so after getting my pajamas on, yes pajamas, I felt like being comfortable, I turned on the hose and walked around watering. After finishing that, I was standing watching the chickens by the deck when I looked up and there was this huge black bear coming down towards me. I can't express how gorgeous he was and so very, very black. He looked very healthy with shiny fur. Nothing for it but to run for the camera. Raced by himself in the kitchen and saying in a whispering voice "There's a bear outside." Himself came out but held on to the handle of the door. Guess he felt safer and more in control by doing that. I took a few pictures but unfortunately they were very blurry. I believe it was caused by the low light and that the bear never stopped moving for a second. He was only here for a few minutes then went off into the woods.

I'm putting these pictures on only as "proof of the pudding" as the saying goes.

23 comments:

ShySongbird said...

A BEAR in the garden!! Oh my goodness, that is such a strange sight to the English eye. I just gave HLH three guesses as to what one might see in the garden among the flower pots, I did qualify it by saying a Canadian garden but he didn't come close!

oldcrow61 said...

lol, that's so funny.

The Quacks of Life said...

woo hoo a Bear!! so cool

Cicero Sings said...

Neat-o. I've been hoping a bear will pass by ours too. One is in the general area for it's been stripping the saskatoon bushes down by the lake ... we even saw bear poop on the trail behind our place. Unfortunately, because there are quite a few people living in our area, they will probably shoot the poor thing. They seem to do so every year. The bears only come in the late summer for the saskatoons ... then people leave their garbage out ... soon you have a garbage bear ... my one sister-in-law is a prime offender. Calls the conservation officer on it and poof. I, and the other sister-in-law that lives here, get quite irritated by this. So irresponsible towards our fellow creatures.

oldcrow61 said...

Pete, it was kind of neat.

Cicero, I agree with what you've said. It's a shame that people rush immediately to have these creatures killed. I'm hoping this one has gone off into the woods and doesn't hang around.

Tricia Ryder said...

Gosh - a bear visit! Somehow my fox visits pale into significance. But..... this vision of you in your PJs dashing about to get the camera and to capture the bear..... LOL (and I definitely agree about the comfort factor :) )

Janine said...

Wow! Great capture. Maybe you should get one of those motion activated game cameras with night vision- who knows what you might find? We have one we got for around $75 but all we get on it are raccoons.

Sondra said...

Wonderful! You were quick with the camera...when I have somebody different in the yard, I can never get a shot!! Good work...

Mystically a visit from a bear is thought to bring introspection and clairty to us! The bear knows the answer from within--
IF seeing a bear doesnt put one in his right mind then nothing will--lol! Bears are a very important part of the ecosystem! Problems arise when people begin to feed bears of leave food for bears and when they are not observed at a safe distance!

My sister has an apple tree in her backyard and it attracks bears so she makes sure to pick up the fallen apples each week, and in summer she doesnt feed birds because this attracks bears too...she lives in the rocky mts of Colorado. She does all this not to protect herself (although that is the smart thing) but to protect the bears from the ones who run immediately to the phone!

Roses and Lilacs said...

There's a visitor you don't see every day;) Handsome fellow. Hope he doesn't discover your bird feeders.

I agree, hopefully he will go deep into the woods and not hang around areas with people. Sooner or later bears always come to a sad end when they stay close to people's homes.
Marnie

oldcrow61 said...

Thanks everyone.
Interesting, the mystical stuff about the bears showing up Dixie.
I doubt it will stick around, I expect he's long gone off. We are in the country where I live and there are woods around but we only see maybe one a year. They tend to go deeper in the country. There are lots of berries, I'm told, this year so there shouldn't be a bear problem.

Anonymous said...

I don't blame your partner, keeping an eye on the door. I doubt the bear had the cost of the cover charge. LOL!

I'm getting a chuckle, thinking of you, tearing through the garden, pjs flapping, to get to the house and camera. I know you have lots of moose in NFLD, have you lots of bears too? There was the odd black bear about my parent's old place in Salt Springs, N.B. but nothing for anyone to worry about. They were never numerous enough to be a bother.

The closest I've come to one was spotting a furry backside, disappearing into the woods on the drive back to town from the folk's house.

Ali

oldcrow61 said...

lol Ali, yes, we have lots of moose and also lots of black bears. They don't normally cause any trouble. The one that was here two years ago was within feet of me and I got some great pictures. I must say though that the gate on the deck was between me and him, lol.

Anonymous said...

It must have been the pj's. IT came for a closer look.

ST

oldcrow61 said...

Ha, ha, ha, ST, you are soooo funny.

Jan said...

omg I would be running for sure, but not for the camera! I guess you know that they don't harm you though, hopefully!

Yoke, said...

All I ever get the camera for at night is Moths or a Bank Vole.

I doubt the gate on your deck would have made much difference if it had intended to attack.

Lovely pictures.

How is the local community concerning bears, Carol?

Yoke, said...

Almost forgot,
Nominated you for a Kreativ Blogger award.
See my blog, http://birdingonwheels.blogspot.com/2009/08/kreativ-blogger-award.html

oldcrow61 said...

Yoke, you're right the gate wouldn't have protected me but I felt it would have least given me a chance to get in the house, lol. The local community concerning bears...well, we usually only get them in October, when preparing for hibernation and around May when they are out of hibernation. To my knowledge there has never been a bad incident with out black bears. They usually don't hang around for long but if they do and people complain, there have been times when someone has shot them. Very sad and upsetting.

Thanks for the award. I really appreciate it.

The Wessex Reiver said...

Blimey oldcrow, that's not something one sees in the garden every day. Was the bear moving fast, or were you? just trying to assess why the pictures are blurred..... ha ha. If he'd come with another wildlife friend, you could have said "oh Deer" !!

oldcrow61 said...

lol Andrew. Yeah, the pictures are blurred because he didn't stop moving. I on the other hand was quite calm and not moving at all, lol.

Stewart said...

Thats all us Brits stunned into silence OC, we cant beat that one!

avalon said...

what a wonderful sight, right in your back yard wow!

Nan and =^..^= said...

just catching up and was so excited to see your bear!