Black Bears

"Whenever I walk in a London street,
I'm ever so careful to watch my feet;
And I keep in the squares,
And the masses of bears,
Who wait at the corners all ready to eat
The sillies who tread on the lines of the street,
Go back to their lairs,
And I say to them, "Bears,
Just look how I'm walking in all of the squares!"
And the little bears growl to each other, "He's mine,
As soon as he's silly and steps on a line.""

from Line and Squares

by A.A. Milne

We were sitting in the screened in porch having supper with my 

mother-in-law last evening when we noticed two young bears on 

 the spit of land that juts out into the slough about 400 yards 

from our cabin. This is the same spit of land where

earlier in June we saw what appears to be our resident 

bear poking around. We have had a single bear here for some years

 ( whether it is the same one I cannot tell you)

who mainly avoids close proximity to the cabin, I suspect the noisy dogs 

help. My brother-in-law, who has had a lot of experience with bears has

 said this is the best kind, it leaves you alone but it's presence will

 discourage other bears from moving in. 

It is probably male as we never see cubs,

 another complication we would like to avoid. 

One of my brother-in-law's experiences with bears

 occurred when a mother with cubs chased him into this 

very slough in this same spot. 

My wife asked him when he decided to run, and he answered decide?

But I digress, the two young bears wandered about eating for about 

an hour. Four beavers that had been on the opposite shore

disappeared. One approached closer to the bears to keep them in 

sight and then slapped it's tail as they moved about.

 Finally the young bears started running, a larger bear 

( the resident as promised? ) 

came out of the bush after them. We though we had seen the last of 

them  but about 10:30 last night we were in bed when Nina started 

barking. She often alerts us to beavers eating the nearby  trees. 

My wife looked out the window and shrieked in surprise 

( similar to her mouse on the cupboard shriek) 

when she saw one the young bears behind the cabin

  The shriek and the barking that followed seem to have frightened 

it off and we have added an airhorn to the bear spray 

we already had on hand. 

Sorry about the picture quality this is thru a screen and 

I am some distance away ( which I like ). 

"No, Yogi! We promised the Ranger we would stay away. 

 You're right. I'm losing control, Boo-Boo. I don't know who's steering 

the ship! "

Yogi and Boo-Boo