Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Bears, And More…Bears.
Good morning to everyone! I hope you are all having a good day. It is another cool, cloudy and wet morning here. Seems like that is going to be the norm for this autumn. This kind of wet cold just goes right through a person. Especially me.😀 I just notice these things more than most people I guess. When it’s hot I have a lot of energy. When it’s cold, then it’s hard to get going. I seem to be the opposite of most people.😂🙄 Which is probably a good thing. Can you imagine if there was a bunch of people like me walking around?😳 Now that would be scary!😲
There was a bear around again last night. Bears are coming into town now looking for food. Their natural food is gone now and they need more to fatten up before their winter hibernation. So they come looking for garbage or whatever else they can find to eat. And they will come around any time of the day. So they are dangerous right now. This one last night was that big bear that was here in the spring. When he walked on the deck I could feel it shaking. I went to have a look. Turned on the light outside. Looked out the window and there is this massive black head looking at me. Must admit, that was a bit shocking. He could easily break that window just by pushing on it.
Poor Muffin. She is terrified of bears. And to have this big critter looking in the window, well, that was just too much for her. It must weigh between 700 lbs or more (320 Kg). That’s big. He comes from across the street. Which is where I go walking each day. Makes me just a little nervous. A person can’t outrun a bear. Or climb a tree. Even a bear that large can climb a tree faster than any person. And now that bear’s are out during the day too. Hmm.
I was out at my cottage one time. It was late evening and I was out watering the flowers in the garden. I got that feeling of being watched. I looked all around. Nothing. I could see a good distance since it was cleared out good around there. I went back to watering. Still had that feeling. I looked around the corner of the cottage. Nothing. I stayed out for quite a while but could not shake that feeling. I went inside and sat down at the table. Immediately this big cinnamon bear walked right past the window. She had been out there and not far away. She had been watching me. She was big too and had a small cub.
Another time I had stayed out there and I looked out all the windows before going outside in the morning. There was actually several bears that used to come around there. But I couldn’t see anything so I stepped outside and looked around before closing the door behind me. Nothing. Just got the door closed and this bear comes around the corner of the cottage. We looked at each other. I opened the door quietly. He charged. And I just barely got inside and closed the door and he was standing there with his paws up against the window on the door. I closed the inside door which was a nice solid wood door, and waited for him to leave before I went outside again.
It’s important to be careful around bears. They can be very unpredictable, especially early spring and autumn. Black bears and cinnamon bears are the same thing, just one is brown. But they are both black bears. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
It’s Autumn.
Hello everyone on this wet autumn day. Yes, it’s raining again, but just lightly. It seems to be raining most days lately. Keeps it rather cool inside. So my heater comes on in the mornings. Muffin didn’t like it at first, which happens each autumn. She is used to it now though. And when winter arrives, she will often sit beside it or even right on top. It’s definitely that time of year again. It’s autumn.
More and more the colors are beginning to come out nice and bright. The deep red of the Virginia creeper is just so beautiful. Even laying among the dry, brown grass it looks so bright and cheery. Then there is the brilliant yellow of the trembling aspen. And the fiery orange of the large toothed aspen and the mountain ash. Then, of course, we have the golden yellow of the birch. Here in town we also have the sunny yellow of the maples and the brilliant scarlet of the sugar maples. Maples are not a native tree here but have been freely planted around town, some a century ago. They grow and flourish just fine here. It’s autumn.
Flocks of Canada geese are flying overhead each day now. Some are heading west to the grain fields to feast a bit before heading south. Others are just going straight south. Seems most are just heading south this year. Soon the sandhill cranes should be starting to fly past in large flocks. These cranes often fly very high. Too high to see them. Yet they are still very easy to hear. They have a very loud and unmistakable call. The snow geese will follow later, though we don’t see as many of those. It’s autumn.
During the summer walking along my forest path, I never saw a squirrel. Though I did hear one a couple of times. Now they are everywhere. The path seems to be a natural boundary between their territories. And they don’t usually cross it. But when one does, look out, the fight is on. Or at least, a good fast chase. It happened the other day. Squirrel one crossed the path. Squirrel two spotted him rather quickly and the chase was on! Squirrel two chased the other back across the path, but, he went too far. And squirrel one turned and chased squirrel two back across the path, but he stayed on his own side. It’s autumn.
I like to watch these squirrels cutting down pine cones. They are amazingly fast. This one squirrel was running along branches snipping off those pine cones with his razor sharp teeth. And those pine cones were falling fast. There were several in the air at the same time. You don’t want to stand under the tree when those cones are dropping. They are quite hard. And dropping from a hundred feet (32+ meters) or more, they can hurt. Even worse if it’s white pine. Those trees can be 200 feet (64 meters) high or more. They let the cones drop to the ground, then they go around and gather them to hide in different places for their winter food supply. It’s autumn.
Days like this are real autumn days. Cloudy, rainy, cool. But we do get some nice sunny days too, some years more than others. This year looks like it will be a wet year. Happens sometimes. It’s autumn. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
