Bear Comes to Visit!

When we moved to the mountains in New Mexico a few years ago, we knew that living with wildlife would be a new and exciting challenge. In fact, one week after we moved in, I saw a young cinnamon colored black bear hanging out by our propane tank. I was in the kitchen, and it was an electrifying experience.

But I terrified him when I called for my husband who was in the back bedroom, and he scattered hurriedly into the pinons and junipers of our back 20 acres. But not before Ed saw his lumbering retreat. That was the last we saw of him.

Over the past few years I’ve seen occasional bear sign on our property…scat, turned over rocks (they love those yummy grubs) and footprints. But no actual bear.

Then, last week, I was up early and heard my son and his wife outside calling for Annabelle, their 10 year old. I noticed what looked like ripped plastic garbage bags under the trees outside our kitchen window, and thought maybe this mischievous youngster was playing one of her creative games, making a mess as a side effect.

Then I realized David’s voice sounded just a touch frantic. Outside, he and Diana were by the shed where every trash can was tipped over and water melon rinds, paper and other miscellaneous junk was scattered far and wide. Diana calmly looked at me and said, “We have a bear.”

At that moment we heard Annabelle’s piping voice answering her dad’s and all of us relaxed. David ushered her inside. By then Ed showed up and the four of us proceeded to clean up the mess, shoveling garbage into new bags and patching up the misshapen plastic garbage bags as best we could..

“He tipped over our outside refrigerator,” David told us. In fact, that’s what woke them up.

But where was the bear?

We figured he must have been frightened off by all the commotion caused in his wake.

Ed took the trash to the dump (no, we do not have trash pick up where we live) and later secured the clean cans in another shed with a heavy duty bolt on the door, handcrafted by my carpenter son.

We didn’t see this guy (he was now dubbed “Blackberry Grumblefoot”) for two entire days.

Then, around 4:00 one cloudy afternoon late last week I spied him sauntering by just beyond the fence that outlines our back yard garden area. He was HUGE. A full grown black bear, definitely not a youngster. He looked a little too casual, a little too “at home” on our property. Ed and I walked to my son’s cabin clanging two pot lids together, and he (I hoped) scattered. Haven’t seen him since, but it’s only been a few days.

What should we do?

After much study, talking to the neighbors, and study on the internet, I’ve found out it is possible to co-exist with a bear. For now, the youngsters stay close to home, not venturing far without an adult. I carry things to bang when I walk to their cabin.

We’ve been told that if we report a nuisance bear, he will be trapped and killed. I have no desire to do away with this fellow. He’s just doing what bears do.

And the behavior of black bears is pretty predictable. They are afraid of humans. They hate loud noises. And if you make yourself look really big and don’t run, they move away.

Yes, it was a little scary at first. But we moved to the mountains, and I have no desire to kill the wildlife here. No one in my area has ever been harmed by a bear. And we were foolish to not have our trash cans locked up. We’ve just been lucky these past 3 years.

What would you do if this happened on your property? I’m curious!

Your Animal loving artist,

Merry

Black Bear Photo from Wikipedia