Two Young Bucks Join Me For Breakfast

Once again, no, I am not talking sex here.  If I ever get around to sex again, it will be spelled in capital letters. Believe me. After my exciting run-in with the bear this week, I really had decided maybe I might want to move to Las Vegas and experience another form of wildlife.  Of course, as usual something happened that changed my mind.  A cold front brough 60 degree weather and these little boys came for breakfast.  They decided to nibble the roses through my fence and it was instant love, at least on my part.  When I saw the bear in my garden, I was afraid but not terribly. The bear ran for the hills so I figured, no real threat.   I have since learned that the bear was not only big, well over 200 lbs, but it was a she.  And she was a Momma.  Of four.  The afternoon of my run in with Momma Bear, she and her four cubs had decided that people food sounded very promising and a good break from the usual berries and small innocent creatures.   They apparently picked up the scent of fresh, sorta' if you think processed is fresh, meat. My neighbor had made the terrible mistake of leaving his Subway sandwich in the car. Turkey on whole wheat. His Tahoe was closed up tight but apparently bears can pick up the smell of meat for over two miles.  There the car sat, and there the sandwich sat and it was warm and she was hungry and ,well, one thing led to another. Apparently bears are very good at opening car doors.  Momma got the door open, ate the sandwich and while she went next door to open another car door and enjoy a bag of Doritos and old cookies, the cubs climbed into the truck.  The cubs liked the cloth seats, ample legroom and the wood grain dash.  They found the sunroof fun and inviting.  They tore up the papers left from the Subway, an old paper cup, one CD and a ball cap.  Luckily for the owner of the cap, his head was not in it at the time.  When the  cubs had made enough racket to draw the attention of the owners of the car out to the front driveway, the Momma had finished her dessert in the next car and everyone managed to meander off toward my house Probably smelling the salmon had I just grilled for my dinner.  I had just cleaned the dishes and headed out to water my tomatoes when I met Momma face to face.  Good thing for me she was full and had finished her dessert or I might have had a hungry momma on my hands.  Instead everyone says after dinner and the shower with the hose, Momma and her 4 little ones headed off to the Lake without further incident.  Polly Crockett has nothing on me.
*It is with sadness that I report the morning after writing this blog I learned the Momma bear had been shot by one of the gun happy hunters of this area. I am not sure what has happened to the cubs. In these cases you don't know who is to blame, our society for infringing on the bears, us for feeding them and being careless with garbage or just that life in general because black bear can not live in harmony with cars, people and dogs. For sure, its not the bear who has created the problem.  They are just the ones who usually suffer the most. I would have lost a feeder, maybe a fence post.  The bears, probably all 5, have lost everything.