Beware the Bear in the Yard

Sylvester the cat meowed at me this morning when I walked into the kitchen, so I pulled open the back door and called him to go outside. As he walked past me to the porch, I turned and looked out the door.

There was a black bear sauntering out from behind my car – just 20 feet away. He had heard me call Sylvester and came out to see what was up. He had a big bone in his mouth and I recognized it as one of Hugo’s nice bones from the pet food store.

I quickly closed the door before Hugo could see the bear as I knew he’d run at it and bark. I know bears can run fast but Hugo definitely would have had a head start and the bear was very close to the house. Sylvester was on the porch watching the bear – he didn’t look as worried as I felt.

I wanted to run for my camera but I also wanted to watch the bear as he ambled away across the grounds. He didn’t run but I knew he knew I was watching him and he had that prized bone in his mouth. I called Crystal and she came running to see and then held Hugo up to the window so he could see what we were so excited about. He watched too as the bear made a circle around the apple tree then headed into the bush.

It was all very exciting to see a bear that close – but a little scary. If I hadn’t been calling the cat and had just walked out the door I’d have been right beside him in just a few steps.

Lesson learned – LOOK around before heading outside, make some noise, watch where you step…

Here’s a video I shot 1 1/2 years ago of a black bear on the beach. I was braver then because I was in a boat!