Bears…And Other Things.

Posted on August 24, 2019 by

47 Comments

Good morning to everyone even if it isn’t morning where you live!  Actually, I like to say good morning no matter what time of day it is.  Why?  Because I enjoy mornings.  To me it’s the best time of day.  It marks a new beginning.  A new start.  New energy to tackle whatever the day brings.  New strength to fight any lingering problems.  A new freshness in my brain for solving any difficulties that come along.  Morning brings new sunshine into my life.  Or perhaps new rain which is also necessary at times.  Morning brings a new perspective to every situation in life.  Other times of the day are good too.  But it’s morning that really gives us what we need to deal with the rest of the day.  Just my thoughts.

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Looking across the river, very strong current through this area.

As you know I started to feed birds again now that fall has arrived.  But because of these pantry moths I can’t keep the bird seed inside.  So I put it in a tote outside.  Because the bears are not around yet the only problem would be raccoons.  So I used a tote with a special type of snap on lid.  That should be safe.  The first night it took that raccoon about 10 seconds to get the lid off.  He seemed to know exactly what needed to be done.  Okay, so I put another tote on top of that one and put a bunch of insulators inside.  That made the top tote heavy.  And the raccoon is small.  Second night, the raccoon shows up, looks around, sniffs, then stands on his hind legs and pushes the top tote off and got at the seeds.  Sigh.

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Mushrooms, unknown variety.

So now I bring the seeds in at night only.  But I’m going to have to stop that too since these moths can chew their way through plastic bags.  Sigh.  Anyway, the raccoon had spilled some seeds in the tote.  Fine.  If he wants to feast on those, go ahead.  Third night. That crazy raccoon was making so much noise I couldn’t sleep.  So I quickly opened the door and went out to chase that critter away.  I also closed the door behind me because I didn’t want Muffin coming out to ‘play’ with the raccoon.

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Tiny red ball mushroom, a little more than half inch (1.25cm) across.

 I stopped.  And stared.  No raccoon.  It was a bear this time.  Me outside on that narrow deck with a bear.  And a closed door.  Not sure which of us was more startled by this.  But the bear grabbed a plastic bag full of insulators and took off past me and up the hill!  I couldn’t believe it.  That bear ran off with some of my insulators.  By the way, he was less than 2 feet from me at one point.  Now, when this first happened, I told my legs this was the time to remove me from this situation.  They did not.  They just kind of froze in position.  My legs and I need to have a good talk.  Sigh.

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I don’t know if these are mushrooms, they are found on dead trees, quite common, different sizes, but this is the first one I have seen with a purple band on it.

Speaking of walking.  It was a very nice fall day for a walk yesterday.  And it stayed sunny for nearly the whole time which was also very nice.  I managed to get some good pictures.  More mushroom pictures, including a tiny red ball mushroom.  Just a little red ball on top of a thin stem.  I have seen these before but not for a long time.  So that was nice to see again.  Also got some nice pictures of a young hawk.  At first I thought it was a young broad winged hawk.  But it looked too big.  And the color, especially the tail, didn’t look right.  But it’s call really gave it away.  Definitely not a broad winged hawk.  It was a red shouldered hawk.  Not one we see here too often, but they do show up occasionally.

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Young red shouldered hawk.

That hawk was the most exciting find of the day, but coming in second was a flower called Indian-pipe.  These are fairly common around here, but they are an odd plant because they lack chlorophyll so they are pure white, leaves, flower, stem.  Normally.  But sometimes they are pink, like the ones I found yesterday.  At least, the flower part is pink.  I have never seen this color before, only the pure white ones.  So that was exciting for me too.

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Pink Indian-pipe, a first for me.

Well, guess I better stop for now.  But I will be back later with another award post.  I’m almost completely caught up with my awards now.  They are not coming in quite so fast anymore.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.

 

Category: Autumn, Beauty, Birds, Black Bear, Country, Country Living, Country Pleasures, Fall, Fun, Happiness, Life, Little Things, Nature, Outdoors, Thoughts, Uncategorized, WalkingTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

47 Comments on “Bears…And Other Things.”

    • It all happened quite fast but that fear hit rather quickly too! Amazing how many thoughts a person can have in so short a time! Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend!😃😺🌞

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  4. I think a day will come when you and bear become friends 😹
    Those were beautiful pictures. In the first mushroom pic, the second one looks like an alien, a big eye and more than two hands 😅🍄🍄👽👽

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    • That’s always possible!🙂🐻
      Thank you so much Saba!! Hey, that’s very good!👍🍄👽👌
      I hope you enjoy the remainder of your weekend!😃😺😸😻😻😽😀

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  5. Wonderful post, Steve, as always. And what a nice morning prologue ! Just, and just only wonderful ! Good morning, Steve, even if it isn’t !…

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  10. A bear ! Whoa…truly God protected you once again ! The raccoons are very wise indeed ! Liked the pic of the hawk and also the variety of mushrooms displayed !

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  13. Hey Steve! How is the fall feels? with Bear and fear and rackoons 😉 so many thoughts. And a variety of mushrooms hawks and an indian flower to see..Great Pics! Another beautiful day✨👏✍️

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    • Hey Simon! Fall is actually a beautiful time of year,🙂 just a bit on the cool side for me!🥶 And this week it’s supposed to be cooler yet, with rain.🙁🌧 So probably no new pics for a few days, but I still have lots of pics to use anyway!😀📷 That Indian Pipe flower was a fantastic find for me, such an unusual one and one of my favorites!😀👍 But fall also means it’s more dangerous to walk around as bears are more active looking for extra food to fatten themselves for the long winter ahead.🐻 I don’t want to be on the menu! 😲Thanks so much for reading Simon, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!!😄😸🌞

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      • Hey Steve! 😃 Wow so you have a beautiful fall ahead. And be careful with bears who wanted to put ourself on bears menu 😂😂. Happy and safe week ahead..😃✨✍️

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      • I hope it will be a beautiful fall anyway, the colors are always nice🍁🍂 but sometimes fall can be very cloudy and rainy.😕🌧 But hopefully I can get some nice colorful pictures this fall.😀📷 Hope you have a great week as well Simon!😃😺🌞🌧

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  15. I know bears sometimes try to eat people, but I’ve heard and read a lot of amusing bear stories that don’t involve people being eaten. Congratulations on seeing a bear that close and living to tell about it.

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    • Thank you so much for reading!! I’m certainly going to be more careful from now and look before I jump out the door at night! Enjoy your evening!😄

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