Another Surprise

The dogs were quiet yesterday until early evening as the temperature dropped and I opened the windows which made it easier for them to hear and smell all the wild things outside.  The hummers were busy getting their last feeding for the night and I was getting comfortable in my chair for a quiet evening of reading. 

All of a sudden the dogs went crazy barking and trying to see out the windows.  Well of course I had to look also.  I went to the kitchen window and looked up the hill but saw nothing.  The hummer feeders looked fine as I took inventory until I got to the living room.  The dogs were still barking and I looked out the little window above where I usually sit and there was a 300 pound bear standing while tipping the hummer feeder catching all the sugar water in his mouth.  He got almost every drop.

I ran out to the porch and yelled at the bear to go.  He looked at me and started running up the hill while still keeping his eye on me until he was out of site.  Upon further review he had drained a feeder on the side of the front porch also.  The one good part of this story is the bear found out how to drain the feeders without tearing them down and wrecking them.  I am thankful for that.  I still love watching the bears.  That was maybe a little too close for comfort.  I thought about grabbing my IPOD to take a picture but the sun was going down and I didn't have enough time.  If you have an IPOD you know they take forever to boot up unlike the bears who can move quickly.

Paula suggests we put an electric wire under the feeders to get the bears to leave them alone.  I would have to turn the electric off to fill the feeders.  Sounds like a lot of trouble.  Her other suggestion was to take the feeders inside for the night.  That's even more trouble since I have up to 16 feeders around the house.  Besides the bears have got into the feeders mostly during daylight hours.  I guess I will just have to keep a lookout for them.  With sugar prices so high we can't afford to feed the bears.  The hummers usually go through at least a gallon of sugar water a day as it is.  It will be even more once the babies start flying in.

Paula's twin nieces Abby and Hailey, in the picture above missed this adventure since they all went to NJ to see Paula's Great Aunt Pauline who is 97. They look scared like maybe they were chased by a big bear.  Paula and the gang will be back home tomorrow for more hummer and bear watching and driving me crazier.

Hope everyone is having a fun celebration today for July 4.
The other mountain girl (Lee Anne) logging off.