Good morning everyone! It’s a cool, windy morning here today, but there is a little blue sky here and there so we might get to see the sun today. But it’s going to stay cool with a high of only 66F (19C) today. That’s definitely fall temperatures, but we are supposed to warm up on the weekend. I finally got a picture of a gray treefrog! That may not sound too exciting, but I have been trying for 3 years now and these frogs are quite interesting. They live high in trees normally, which makes it hard to get a picture of them. Plus they can change color, depending on their background, and around here we mostly see them when they are a bright green. When gray they kind of look like a stone, or tree bark and they can also take on a brown color. Next will be to find a green one for a picture.

Speaking of chipmunks. They were very busy yesterday, gathering peanuts and sunflower seeds, plus running around “playing” with each other. They have to keep in shape for whenever Slim shows up, like this morning. Skamper was getting some sunflower seeds and Slim showed up. Skamper ran for one of the boxes, with Slim right behind him. Skamper made it through the box just fine, but Slim had to make a tight turn, and slammed into the side of the box instead of going through the door. But he kept going, however Skamper was long gone, so he came back right away. Yesterday afternoon I went to put out some more peanuts for their afternoon feeding.

I decided to spread the peanuts out more so there would be less fighting among the chipmunks. Muffin was there so I had to watch her, plus I always keep my eyes looking down for any speedy chipmunks who might want to come inside while the door is open. I opened the door wider than usual so I could spread the peanuts out better, stuck my hand out with the cup of peanuts and…my hand wasn’t more than a foot away from the bear’s nose who was standing there looking right at me. Muffin ran to hide. I was so shocked by this, I just pulled my hand back inside and slammed the door so fast! Not that a screen door is much of a barrier to stop a bear.

But slamming the door scared the bear and he trotted off the deck and disappeared around the side of the house. That was right at 2pm. So, let me see now…it’s not safe to walk to the river due to bears, it’s not safe to be at home due to bears. That doesn’t leave a lot of choices. I think that bear was as shocked as me though, which is why he just stood there. Surprising I never saw it, but I was too much concentrating on chipmunks and Muffin. Note to me, look around before opening door. Or I could buy a bunch of food and lock myself inside until winter. But I do need to go out and walk, bears or not. It’s going to be an interesting fall. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.