No disappointment

It was beginning to get dark and I was thinking of going out for a last look at the sky, so I glanced out the window and…

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Oh.

Two days ago I mentioned the bear, last seen on April 17th. Perhaps I have acquired Grant’s talent for getting animals to show up just by referring to them.

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This is a sizeable animal. Notice the metal bowl of cat leftovers which the bear ignored, favouring the ever-popular peanuts I had just thrown down for the fox and skunks.

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The bear soon lumbered off around the corner to check out the seed bowls by the hedge.

At that time of day there isn’t much left.

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But it knew where else to check.

The light was fading and I had to contend with reflections on a screened window, so the pictures are not good, but it was exciting to be so close to the bear, safely inside – although…

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An article I saw this morning reported that a black bear cub recently broke through a window in a nursing home, somewhere in Indiana. A nurse met it coming down a corridor and called out for everyone to close their doors. She then grabbed some rice krispie treats and followed it, finding that it had climbed into bed with one of the inmates who she persuaded to lie very still. Eventually, the bear responded to the rice krispies and was lured outside where authorities captured it for removal to a more suitable location.

So, being behind a glass window – not foolproof! I confess I might not feel all that confident if the bear was a grizzly, but we don’t have any of those in this area.

Grant opened a kitchen window and addressed the bear:

“Oi! Do you mind not raiding the feeders!”

Which earned him a dirty look, but did the trick.

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The bear disappeared into the gathering dusk behind the garage, causing raccoons which had been eating on the patio to take off hastily in the opposite direction, but a lone deer under the apple tree seemed undisturbed.

We were a little concerned to see only 3 raccoon babies. Where was number 4?

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The day before, when I took these pictures, we’d noticed a couple of them were limping. A sore toe in the above case. The other was holding a foot off the ground but moving around quite efficiently.

They rushed off in such a hurry last night, we were not able to establish who was missing.

Perhaps it was at home with its foot up.

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How is one to not fall in love with such delightful and amusing creatures?

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Or with one that is so resilient? Witness Baldy’s new suit.

We will always be able to keep track of him because he has no tail.

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Despite evidence of another favourite tree coming down, yesterday was a good day.

At Hannaford’s, I waited in the car. A woman drove in and parked beside me and I heard her talking gently to someone who was obviously also going to wait:

“Do you want water? Here, now sit back and relax.”

I decided that the someone must be either an old woman or a dog.

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I was not disappointed.

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