Yesterday, it was a balmy 49 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. I answered the call to come out and play. The garden has been through an icy cold winter, piled high with heavy snow and whipped with freezing wind. I spent a good three hours, pruning and cleaning up winter’s devastation. My husband finally mended the fence that was ripped apart by the neighborhood bear in the Fall.
All Winter the broken fence was like a welcome sign to all passing deer and raccoons. Mending the fence will only be temporary, because Mr Bear is going to be back. The previous year he came to check on the fruit trees. After breakfast one morning, I stood at the backdoor admiring his sleek black coat as he sauntered towards the apple tree. He stood three and a half feet tall on all fours with a fair rotundity for that time of year. He was quite agile as he cleared the fence, leaping over it when he caught me observing him. This last Fall he came back to feast on apples.
We live in the middle of town and thought that we were far from the midnight foraging that my friend described, when a bear came and helped himself to the contents of her freezer that was in the back porch. My friend lives north of town where bears and cougars were occasional visitors in the past. Now she says a bear practically lived in her backyard this last Fall.
We humans are now having to adapt to living with animals who stayed in their territory until we decided to encroach on them. In this area, we are logging in places which is affecting the cycle of salmon returning to spawn in the creeks which in turn is causing the bears’ supply of salmon and berries to dwindle.
The bears were coming to town to look for food and so the conservation officers, for the safety of the citizens, came house to house to check that everyone was keeping their backyard free of fruit on the ground and no food in the compost. It is sad that they are being deprived of food when so much fruit is rotting and not being used. I didn’t mind that the fence was ripped and the compost bin was torn apart. Mr Bear must have been very hungry because he ate all of the old dried up squash plants in the pile and found the apple cores and skins that I had buried deep down.
I don’t mind sharing my apples with Mr Bear though he makes me nervous when I go out walking in the evening. I hear that he too likes to stroll along the sidewalk of the same street that I frequent. I hope he has the courtesy to cross the street when he smells me coming around the corner.
Speaking of crossing the street, I heard that there was a sea otter who came to the house where I used to live and had her babies there! Now, that was too much for me to take in. The house is uphill, two streets up from the beach. She would have had to really work at finding her way there to have her babies in that cozy spot under my old house.
And that cougar that keeps hanging out on my favorite walking trail! On Christmas day, he would not go away when two women tried to scare him off. At first they shouted at him but thought that they sounded too girly and then lowered their voices a few registers. They finally had to back away and go off in another direction.
It’s an adventure coming back here to live in this beautiful part of the world. I am so grateful for the community here, to be in nature right in my own backyard and to live amongst the creatures of the wild. So if you would excuse me, I have a lot of play-dates coming up. I won’t be spending as much time on the computer. If you are looking for me, you’ll have to holler because I will be way down at the bottom of the lot.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Society conditions people to be scared of animals when the animals themselves give no reason. Free will gives each person the option to throw himself into the figurative fire and rise from his own ashes.
As you choose to examine ways of thinking, acting, thinking, dreaming and perceiving the world, you may come to discover a series of habits. People will tell you what is good for you or not, what you should or should not do. This is external effort to regulate your existence. Few people choose to direct their focus completely inward. Not everyone realizes or accepts that to permit emotions to flow is a way to release them. Even anger is an energy you can learn to direct more wisely.
Hi Miruh,
This is like the story of Miruh in wonderland. Oh please take a photo of the bear the next time he is near. I too live in a place that was once inhabited by animals and we still have a part of it reserved by the state for endangered birds and marine wildlife. They are fascinating to watch and seem to have a free spirit.
Enjoy the energy of all of your animal spirits.
Hello Liara,
As you often do, you take a unique perspective.
I read a book by Charlie Russell about his work with orphaned bears and how he trained them to fend for themselves in the Kamchatka area in Russia. Indeed he was able to befriend them and other bears in the area. The book also mentioned how a famous Japanese photographer who had a lot of experience filming bears, was mauled to death while he slept, because of the stupid behavior of others in the camp he was at.
I think conservation officers and parents of small children are not interested in finding out if humans can co-exist with bears in residential areas.
People are unpredictable. A few bear incidents around the province this past year, have people feeling uncomfortable about having the bears roaming around.
Perhaps one day we will evolve to behave like you envision!
Thanks for your wise words my friend.
Hello Alexys,
Yes, I feel like I am in Wonderland sometimes!
The image I wish I have is the one that a friend told me about. Picture her and her barking dog next to her at their kitchen window. She is standing on a stool, peering out and down to see what the dog is barking at. She is making eye contact with a bear lying on his back next to a basket with a high undisturbed pile of walnuts. He is looking at her and eating the nuts, leaving the shells on his belly!
She was too stunned to go and get the camera. I’ll try to pry myself away next time!
Thanks for engaging in my adventure stories!
Miruh,
Thanks for sharing a bit of your wonderland. Please let us know about your early Spring…it is one thing I miss so very much, at this time of year, to go out and prune and clean. I am just itching to do so…we’ve still got a couple of feet of Snow to melt first, however!
It’s lovely having wildlife around. I’ve gotten to know the energy of each, and for the most part, we leave each other to our respective lives.
You are blessed to be living in an area of such abundance. I am sure you will have more bear and cougar stories as time progresses. Have a great weekend.
Hello Marion,
Ouch, two feet of snow still! Today it was 51 degrees and I was out there again. Last week though, we had a bit of snow and the ducks were walking on the ice in the pond. Tonite, we will get down to freezing. That’s February on the Coast! But I am optimistic that Spring is on its way.
I can imagine the wildlife hanging out in your yard. The raccoons play in the trees while I am digging around, they are used to me sharing their space.
We are very fortunate to get to know the animal spirits up close.
May the sun shine upon you and hurry Old Man Winter along!
Hello Mark,
Yes, I give thanks everyday for my life here. But you know wherever we are is perfect. When I went to New York City I thought it was a great place to be, Central Park and the people were terrific. Each place has its own merrits.
Yes, I look forward to more adventures with the animals that come to visit!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend too!
Hi Miruh – Thanks for sharing this engagingly vivid picture of life in your part of the world. Here in northern England, we never come across anything wild in the garden bigger than a squirrel, so the idea of having a bear hanging around seems kind of surreal: wonderful but also potentially scary. I guess you come to adapt to it in time. You have to learn to trust but also exercise vigilance. We were talking about a ‘middle way’ on another of your posts – learning to live with these wonderful creatures seems like another one!
Hello Simon,
It is our luck that you don’t have more than squirrels there to entertain, hence we get the wonderful fantasies like Pooh Corner from your writers with prolific imagination of hephalumps and wozzles.
Yes, here on the coast of British Columbia life is pretty surreal and I don’t just mean the nature around, but the general well-being we enjoy here, say compared to the Congo region right now.
The lessons are everywhere, as you say, learning to live with our four legged relations is another way to practice the ‘ middle way’.
Thanks for your kind comment. God bless!
Leave a Comment