Bears and Bucks

Yesterday was my Aunt's memorial luncheon. It was a fitting tribute to her life and a nice closure for our family. Despite her challenges in life, she was very loved.

When Vil and I drove home from her service at around 4pm, Paul was waiting to greet us. It was darling- he was sitting on his rear end, just like a person with his legs stretched out in front of him on the side of the road. His big bottom lip was sagging and he turned his giant head and looked at us. I leaned out my window and quietly said "Hi Paul"....and he almost said "hi" back with those intelligent eyes. After watching him for a little while, he stood up and sauntered back into the forest.

Last night, we had another bear visitor. This one we've named Lester and he is easy to identify because of the patch of light color on his left-hand side. We had some neighbors over and we were sitting outside enjoying the evening. We heard Pup do his "bear bark" in the kennel out back. Pup barks at bears differently than he barks when he's agitated- the bear bark is more of a fear-crossed woof. In a few minutes this big black bear came walking down our trail (see video). After Lester went back in the woods, we saw three bucks come walking through the yard- but it was very dark, so no pictures of those guys.

It's my favorite time of year up here. Wildlife everywhere, and the plants growing and blooming.