The Bears are Back

Well, winter is officially over. Yesterday the llama next door sounded his distinctive alarm cry as he stared at the field across the road. I followed his line of sight, and there it was: a black bear.

Last spring we had as many as seven at one time in our neighbourhood. Generally they are in the empty fields and old orchard across the street, but occasionally they wander into someone's yard or pasture, or take a little stroll down the road.

They will clamber over fences, and on more than one occasion I have spotted them in my fields. Martin, the alpaca, always sounds the alarm and unless they are blocking his path, will rush up to the gate that divides my yard from the pasture. I'm never sure if he is rushing to me for protection, or preventing me from going into the pasture when danger is near. I open the gate to let him through, and he stands with me until Mr. or Ms. Bear wander away again.

The most dangerous bears are the yearlings - they have the strength to do much damage but haven't yet developed the smarts to flee from humans. The one across the street was a yearling.

Shortly before I moved here, the previous tenant had let garbage accumulate in the barn and a bear came onto the property and was trying to break down the barn door. Last year, I came home from work to find a bear at the end of my driveway contemplating whether to climb the gate to pick fresh hazelnuts from my trees or head over to the fields and apple trees across the way. Fortunately the apples won.

I worry about the piglets, but hope there is safety in numbers and that the number of fences between public property and their piggy yard is enough to deter bears in an area where other sources of food are plentiful. Certainly the coyotes that visit almost daily have made no attempt to bother either the piggies or the alpaca, and in fact seem to live quite harmoniously with Martin who neither sounds the alarm nor acts afraid. In fact, he has been seen to lie down in the sunshine not 10 feet away from Mr. Coyote.

I shall be ever vigilent for the next few months, and especially the next few weeks as hungry bears search for food on bushes that have not yet born fruit.

Life in the country is certainly never boring!