2 BIG Black Bears 10 Feet Off my Bedroon Door at 7:30 This Morning!!!
This morning around 7:30 I heard an odd metallic scraping sound coming from my back yard area. We have several acres here, so I don't technically have a yard like most of you do. Anyhoo, I looked out my door wall, which was open, although the screen door in it was closed, and there not 10 feet from the door was a huge mother bear and her large juvenile cub! The mother was chewing on one of my hummingbird feeders and the cub was chewing on my very pricey big seed cylinder and holder. We've had bears here many times before, but NEVER during daylight hours!
I quickly grabbed my cell phone and took one pic through the screen door. In retrospect, I should have moved over a bit and shot through the door wall instead, but I was very shocked and not thinking straight. I then set it to record a video, but again through the screen door for the first minute or so. The mother then walked to the back of our property and easily scooted under the barbed wire fence, leaving the cub (which surprised me) still chewing on my large seed cylinder. I felt more safe then, although I probably shouldn't have, and stepped outside to continue videoing him. After a minute, he scooted off towards his mom and I watched them head towards my neighbor's back portal. Anyhoo, I immediately called my neighbor, as I was worried about her dog. While she called our other neighbors to warn them, I called our local grade school for them to warn all the bus drivers. And then I quickly posted a warning on our local Next Door website. Finally, I called our local Fish & Game, and they sent someone out to look for them.
When I calmed down enough, I checked around our house and found that they'd first hit all the feeders on my front portal (porch). What a mess! They then apparently headed around the side of my house and tore that feeder down. In the back, they'd torn all three of my feeders apart. Yes, I totally know that you shouldn't leave them out overnight, but we put ours out around 6:30AM which, until today, has always been safe.
So, I'll try to attach pics I took next. This first one is the still I copied off the video. Sorry , but I shot this part through the screen door thinking I was safe that way (LOL)! The cub is on the ground behind the tree bed circled in white rocks.
Taken after the bears left (below).
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Comments (24)Gardngrl: What a great post! Your very good at expressing yourself. My wife and I bought a country home 2years ago. It just kills me to leave the big city and step back into time. Yes the wave thing, kills me. We have great neighbors, but your right bad neighbors can make you move. I am in a very expensive area and when meeting the locals I don't like to tell them exactly where my house is, because then they say oh your in one of those mansions. It's not a mansion but many local people live in trailers. So when you go some where your better off being vague. But they like local residents better than tourists. Then they ask, where you live. You might as well tell them, because they want every detail and the color of the house. The also know the names of everyone and your house is named after the person you bought it from. I love them all but they follow the beat of a different drum. Had my farmer friend grade my driveway, I paid him. He did a nice job so I asked him if he wanted a 25" color TV I had. He looked me in the eye and said what would I do with it. My gravel driveway needed repair and put 70 yards of gravel in it. Can be very expensive to maintain. Especially if not done properly like mine was. To drill a well by me cost $42,000.00, so you better check out what a well cost and septic, electric run to the house etc. You could drop a fast $75,000 real fast. The locals will help you anytime you need it. Just mention you have a problem and you get offers, use of tools, wanna borrow the dozer etc. In my opinion big city people and city life you can keep it. We dress down and accept everyone for what they are and make no judgements. It really was a wake up call for me to see what is really important in life. My town is about 160 people, and yes they all know everything about everyone. They like to know, where your from, what you do. But they do it in a friendly way, like breaking the ice and some small talk. What I like if some one works on your house, they would rather take trade than cash. Great system if you have a skill or service to trade. Very handy people, can just about fix or build anything you need. I would also recommend that you get as much land as you can afford. The last thing you want is to have a neighbor close by whey you move to gods country to get some room. I just purchased the land west of my property and I am in negotiations with the owner of the land east of me. Just want to make sure I am secluded. Neighbor down the road has a beautiful log cabin home and someone bought the land next to him and put up a house that looks like a garage, with plastic siding and on the lot line. The guys nice and a builder from the same city Iam in but when his neighbor looks out the window he sees white plastic siding. I cannot see any homes around my house and I am going to insure I won't either. When I first bought the house I wasn't sure how much we would use it, or would we get tired of it. Was worried that maybe this was a very expensive mistake. But we love it and I am so glad I bought it....See Morewild, big, black cat in Catskills mountains
Comments (15)after 11 years, not likely you are still reading.......BUT......if you are, i saw your cat on sept 23, 2018 in sidney, ny. not far from Walton. On a golf course of all places. It was pawing around a small drainage ditch on the hole next to the one i was on. then climbed on some rocks that were hiding a culvert pipe under a cart path. Now, it might sound like smoke up the but but i normally leave my phone in the truck when i golf so no pic. I was able to shoot it with my range finder at 70 yards (about 200ft or so) and with the magnification zoom, which isn't much but definitely came into focus very clearly, it was without question a big black cat with a long tail and green eyes. I saw it before it saw me but once eye contact was made, it trotted off the course and into the weeds, heading north, toward the susquehanna river. Looked like some sort of freak giant house cat. roughly 18" tall, 24" long, and maybe 24" tail. just guessing. Much larger than my boston terrier. I plan on asking around the next time im there....See MoreThey're Baaaack (Black Bears at My House Last Night)!!!
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Comments (72)I like the sound of those vents you bought. Where did you get those ? I’ve posted some pictures of my vents. One opens in which happens when the exhaust fan turns on. Pro - opens automatically when it is hot and the fan is on. Con - opens automatically when the wind blows so I have to barricade it shut during the cold weather. Solution - mechanical vent opener which is next. The one that opens out WAS supposed to open automatically as the temp got hotter with one of those openers with wax in them Although they work great for their intended purpose. It is challenging to get them to operate the way I need it to. I have installed pullies trying to get them to open properly but didn’t have time to finish that project so they stay closed until the warm weather then I prop them open. Work in progress but that’s the fun of it, right ???? The fan I bought moves some air. The switch shown in the pictures works flawlessly. I set mine to turn on at 120 and off at 100. As you can imagine - it is on a lot during the hot days. It draws in the air through the vents but if the air is hot to begin with then it makes it tougher. Some day ....... I’m going to put in waterproof worktops and then install some sort of misting system. Evaporative cooling (swamp coolers) are effective for their specified purpose. I insulted the roof, North wall and the east side with bubble wrap. I have a 30,000 BTU kerosene heater (am upgrading to Natural gas someday). I have 10 (50 gallon) drums filled with water and painted black. Those are for my latent heat. They absorb the heat from the sun and heater and then dissipate it back to the GH when the sun goes down. Hot goes to cold. Some think they don’t work but they work for me and they were free. Even in the Winter - if they freeze it is still fine because water generates BTU’s when it changes state from ice to water. You mention the roof vents. They are hard to get to. The only way I can think of is to remove the one next to it to gain access. That will be hard for me because they are siliconed in place, have double clips and a screw in the center. Yes, I did get carried away when I built my GH. I made a complete unistrut structure and then built the GH around it. It has held up tp 60 wind gusts without losing one panel. The frame can’t go anywhere because it is up against the unistrut. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. A friend of mine put his up and it blew down after just two weeks. I did plant through rough last Winter but just some cold veggies like Spinach and lettuce. Once it was too hot for the exhaust fan to cope - 140 + in the GH then I only planted watermelon in there. I may try something else this year during the hot summer....See MoreLynnNM
5 years ago
Fun2BHere
5 years agoLynnNM
5 years ago
Joaniepoanie
5 years agoLynnNM
5 years ago
Oakley
5 years agoLynn, this was on our local weather last night. The line went right over my house.
I don't mean to hijack but I didn't want to start a new topic.
It's the thin blue line next to the yellow dots of storms.
LynnNM thanked Oakley
Bonnie
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThat is too close for comfort. We have one roaming our small town. It was at a bird feeder in a friend's backyard, then it made its way across town to the ice cream shop. We have heard many jokes about it but it is frightening! Glad you are ok, Lynn.
This picture, taken by my friend was in the paper and on the news:
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Faron79
5 years agoLynnNM
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3katz4me
5 years ago
Olychick