Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

Now that you've become acquainted let me explain.

I live high up in the mountains at about 8000 feet above sea level. Behind my house lies several 14ers (mountain peaks surpassing 14,000 feet above sea level). We live smack dab in the middle of nature. We are on THEIR turf. We all know that.

Picture taken from my driveway at sunset. Even my pretty good camera doesn't do it justice.😍

This year there was an early freeze that caused many berries not to produce. This in turn brought more visits from our large neighbors.

We've lived here for about 5 years. When we first moved in we attempted a compost pile... but the bears came. They even tried/try coming IN the house. Our back deck has tons of bear claws from them either climbing up and over or running away after the fact. After several nights of this (years ago), and us yelling and our dogs barking, we hadn't had a problem since...a few days ago.

This year, however, our neighbors are having lots and lots of occurances. Here's another shot from a recent visitor. These were taken by a neighbor and shared on Facebook. I asked if I could take and share them, he said yes. :)
I stick my tongue at you!

This was in broad daylight (early evening), right in his yard. This is NOT normal behavior for bears. They generally aren't so brave with humans. I read every day that someone's house was again broken into by a bear. Luckily, I never read about PEOPLE breaking in to places. ❤️

The talk in town is that the bears have figured us out. They now know that there is probably food behind doors and windows, regardless of if they smell anything. So they've evolved.

Our community is quite careful about leaving delicious (or even gross) smelling things out at night.

Yet, they come.

I've never been in the right state of mind to grab the camera when confronted by a bear. Most times I just sling my hands up (you wanna look big) and start sternly telling them to go away. 😳 I've been up close and personal with a baby (less than 300 lbs), an adolescent (probably around 400 lbs), and a female. I've sternly spoken/whined at a HUGE male from afar, but more than 30 feet away.

The female was by far the funniest. She had grabbed a bag of trash and was gingerly pulling items out of the top. Not being messy at all. My dogs were just barking at her and she merely looked at us with a bored look, grabbed a box of cereral and calmly climbed over the deck and left.

Dude bears (I've found) tend to be waaaaaay messier. We had a visit from a dude (I'm assuming) a few nights ago. Ripped the trash up and threw it everywhere. It was a hot, stinky mess. 🤢

Picture taken by me on the trail near my house.

Living where we live I have to be alert whenever I'm out walking alone or with the dogs. The bears have been coming to the creek near my house and pooping right in the middle of the trail, as if to warn me. The large cats (bobcats or mountain lions) have also been leaving their dung on the trail. 😲

Last night I got spooked (right after I took that pic above) and talked loudly to myself while walking, just in case. I don't want to come up on a wild animal and startle them. Best let them know I'm coming... I guess.🤔

Lol! I just remembered! Three nights ago I was walking one of the dogs and heard a large group of coyotes start to go off. They were close, but not too close. Then suddenly they broke through the tree line. Instantly, Oberon (my doggie) came to my side and looked to the direction of the coyotes. I leashed him and we took off for home. Running. I don't run. (Okay, it was like a quick jog- uphill.) It seriously sounded like they were gaining on us. As I hit the corner to turn towards our house they got louder. I was only about a minute and a half from home and made it safely. Our Eddie Kitty was waiting in the driveway, also alerted by the coyotes. I scooped him up and ran inside to safety.

Was I actually in danger? Probably not. 🙃

I love living in nature and respect their laws. I don't think I would have been as nervous if I'd been alone, but because I was with an animal, I felt more on guard.

In conclusion, Nature is Scary. Respect it.

Bear pics by Donald Gifford (not on Steemit)
Cartoon pics of me by Bitmoji.com
Other pics by me! 😍

❤️