Snaggle Nose a Survivor and Victor

Snaggle Nose 2016 by John Schilken of the Tannery in Leetonia

Snaggle Nose 2011

Yes, Snaggle Nose followers he is still ticking after all these years. The first I heard of Snaggle nose was the summer of 2009 when my neighbor called me stressed about an adult male bear who had part of his face hanging and bloody from a fight with another bear. This bear had to be at least 3 and probably 4 by that time. He is close to 11 years old now and is a force to be reckoned with. The other bears run when they see him and he doesn't hesitate during the summer non-hunting season to stroll around Leetonia in the middle of the day and take any food he can find.

His size is at least 600lbs and he sports a permanent growling appearance, which is not as noticeable in the top picture. John said, Snaggle Nose came up behind him while he worked on the door of his place. I am sure he quickly stepped inside the camp. John said, "Snaggle nose was smelling the back of Pats truck when I yelled at him. All he did was turn to get his picture taken. Walked on back side of truck and up the drive." Pat had left some feed in the back of his car and Snaggle nose would have been happy to relieve him of that burden.
This bear teaches me a lot of what it means to be gravely injured, heal and not only survive but thrive. If any of us had gone through what he has..would we have given up, hidden somewhere embarrassed by our deformity?  Would we have held so much trauma in our brains that we never again became a functioning member of this earth. Snaggle Nose didn't give it a thought. He healed, he grew, and he became the biggest bear in all of Leetonia. He is a force to be reckoned with and honored. We should all have the heart of this bear and not retreat from life, but face it with whatever face or body we have been given.  Of course he did not get it by having an easy life...his strength came through a journey from a challenge, then through pain, growth and victory. I am not sure how many cubs his has in the area, but you can bet the heart of this bear beats on in many of them and his legend will never die. Mountain Girl, Paula, logging out.

Mange Bear in Leetonia

Bear with Mange looking in the Tannery window

John from the Tannery sent me his Mangey Bear picture. As you can see the poor thing looks more like an alien species than a bear. He took this picture when the bear was looking in the kitchen window hoping they would share some of that good smelling bacon. Bears like this if not treated will die when the cold weather comes. If you see one contact the Fish and Game Warden and see if they will trap and treat it. Since mange is very contagious to other bears(it is spread by a small mite that burrows into the hair foliace) controlling this on the bears helps other bears as well. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bear attacks girl near Lock Haven

(Original News Story Link) Bear Attack story Although rare for black bears to attack a person it does happen and just happened to the south of us on Monday. 18 year-old, Camille Marie Bombay, was part of a large deer hunting party. They managed to scare up more than a deer when they ran into this mother bear and her three cubs. As Leo(our pit bull) can tell you chasing a mother bear never ends well. She had bites to her shoulders and arms and was treated at Lock Haven Hospital before being transfer to Geisinger.  A reminder to all of us using this beautiful area. We are walking into "their territory" and you don't always drive out the exact thing you are looking for. Camille is doing well and will have a heck of a story to tell for a long time.

On another note there isn't a lot of snow on the roads, but as always four-wheel drive is a prerequisite to winter driving in Tioga Forest unmaintained roads. I would also suggest taking chains with you and plenty of warm clothes and water should you have to walk a long distance for help. Cell phones only work in a very few high ridge areas and you can't count on them to save you. Plan ahead and stay safe. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

An 18-year-old teen named Camille Marie Bomboy was attacked by a black bear while out deer hunting with her step-father and a large hunting party late Monday afternoon. Bomboy and the party were driving deer through the woods when three black bear cubs ran by her, soon followed by the assumed mother bear who promptly attacked the young woman. Luckily Bomboy’s step-father was able to scare off the bear before the attack could turn fatal. - See more at: http://www.wideopenspaces.com/pennsylvania-teen-attacked-by-bear-deer-hunting/#sthash.vRXbTrnj.dpuf

An 18-year-old teen named Camille Marie Bomboy was attacked by a black bear while out deer hunting with her step-father and a large hunting party late Monday afternoon. Bomboy and the party were driving deer through the woods when three black bear cubs ran by her, soon followed by the assumed mother bear who promptly attacked the young woman. Luckily Bomboy’s step-father was able to scare off the bear before the attack could turn fatal. - See more at: http://www.wideopenspaces.com/pennsylvania-teen-attacked-by-bear-deer-hunting/#sthash.vRXbTrnj.dpuf

An 18-year-old teen named Camille Marie Bomboy was attacked by a black bear while out deer hunting with her step-father and a large hunting party late Monday afternoon. Bomboy and the party were driving deer through the woods when three black bear cubs ran by her, soon followed by the assumed mother bear who promptly attacked the young woman. Luckily Bomboy’s step-father was able to scare off the bear before the attack could turn fatal. - See more at: http://www.wideopenspaces.com/pennsylvania-teen-attacked-by-bear-deer-hunting/#sthash.vRXbTrnj.dpuf

Bears 17 - Mountain Girls 0

Well last night started when I came home from work with Lee outside a flashlight pointed toward me. I wondered what was going on.

"Do you see a bear?" she said. "He was just out here getting into the hummingbird feeders. I chased him away from one and he ran to the next."

"No," I replied, "I usually watch with the lights of the car as I pull up for them."

That last part was true as there is nothing worse then walking into a black bear in the dark. They are so hard to see at night and there aren't street lights up here. 

Well it didn't take long after I was inside for the bear to reappear in the window start drinking the feeder. I grabbed the big drum and took it outside; I yelled at him pounding it loudly. He ran toward the front of the house and I followed. By this time Lee came out with the flashlight and he was at the road. He had stopped in the road to look at us. His eyes reflected green in the flashlight looking more like a monster from a bad dream than a 400 lb bear. We kept beating the drum and yelling until he ran down the road out of sight.

"Hopefully, he won't be back." I told Lee.

I turned my concentration to the clock and realized I only had two more hours to be under sixty years old. For some reason this birthday coming was bothering me more than most. I said goodnight to the cat and let the dogs go out one last time then headed to bed.

About an hour later I was awoken with Leo's loud half howl, part growl bark. The bear was back. I trudged downstairs in my underwear and sure enough there was his ugly snout back at the hummingbird feeders. Speck, I guess was too tired to get up and stayed on the couch wrapped in his blanket. I ran out the door yelling with the flashlight. He dropped down but didn't go far so I continued to yell at him until he moved down the hill. With a full-moon now out it was much easier to see him. My confidence level in eliminating the bear tonight was definitely fading. I looked at the clock. Happy Birthday to me!

I fell back asleep and was again woke up very early in the morning just before dawn by a noise and Leo's grumbling again, but he didn't seem as upset and I couldn't wake all the way up. That was a big mistake. 

When I finally got up this morning I saw what the bear had been up to. He had drained all 17 of Lee's feeders knocking many of them down. This included the ones in the fenced back yard, which he had to climb and destroy the fence to get to. Then to add a little more fun, he opened the garbage cans and spread the garbage all around. I found the last bag half way up the hill. 

The poor hummingbird who are hatching now awoke to little if any food they were fighting each other for it. The new babies didn't fair well. We found one dead in the front and one injured who is now in our Leetonia Hummingbird Hospital. Lee had not wanted to deal with the electric fence again this year, but it appears the bear has given us no other options. So for my birthday I will be stringing wire to retrain this bear back to his normal habitat feeding and away from our not so free handouts. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and picking up the pieces.

Quill Pig Blues

Porcupine

Well, it is officially mating season for porcupines or as I like to call them "Quill Pigs." They are out in full force trying to find each other and make more prickly little creatures. Coming home the other night from the edge of the State Forest to the house, I saw eight of them; five in the last two miles near the house. That is one less than every quarter mile. I think that is a record for me. They are out a lot in the evening and night time, but I have seen them during the day as well. Since they have caused me thousands of dollars of damage to my equipment, vehicles and dogs, we are on high alert. I saw the one in the picture on the way up from Cedar Run he scurried away from the camera unwilling to have his face on film. This one is about average size for the ones I have seen. I have seen them larger up to forty pounds and smaller than this one who I put at about twenty pounds.

The turkeys and grouse have been out doing the mating dance as well. I have seen many running after each other across the road. The grouse are not the brightest birds when it comes to cars. One of their defenses is to freeze and not moving on the road can be deadly. So remember if you see one on the road it may not move until it is too late.

I also saw my first bear, a second year cub, just above me along the road. Although the bears have been out for a while, I just hadn't been in the right place at the right time to see one. Soon they will be checking all the picnic baskets for a free meal as tourists and camp owners come in they know to watch out for any easy pickings.

The weather has been erratic we had several days without using firewood and are now back to warming the cabin up after cold nights in the 20's and cool days in the 50's. We have been getting some nice sunny days and that always makes it feel warmer on the South slopes if you stay out of the wind. I can report no snow on the ground sightings anymore, however a few flakes drift down now and then to remind us it ain't summer yet.

I have been working long hours at a new job in Wellsboro as well as doing my carpentry job, so I haven't had as much time to enjoy the mountain as usual this last month. It is the old thing of no money lots of time, no time more money. Too bad we have to choose. Roads are all open and ruddy, so come and enjoy the mountains. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

The Buzzing Hole

Ground Bee Nest

Lee came home the other day after mowing a neighbor's camp and said there was a strange buzzing hole in the ground. She didn't get too close to it but said it looked like someone dropped a bowling ball into the ground.
Now curiosity peaked, I had to go take a look. I had seen bee nests in the ground before, but typically they were small holes that the bees came out of and bite you when you inadvertently walked over them or mowed over them.
I approached the hole and I could hear the buzzing then saw several small bees that were yellow but not as big as the yellow jackets I was used to. I also noticed part of the combs from the nest were about two to three feet from the nest. It became obvious to me that a bear heard the buzzing and decided it may contain something good to eat so dug it up creating the large hole and exposing a large portion of the underground nest. The bees would not let me get any closer for a picture without consequences.  I know it isn't that clear but there are horizontal channels in the lower part of the hole and it is completely filled with a nest similar to the ones you see on trees but underground. So the mystery was solved. The bees didn't dig a large hole for their nest a bear did. I wish I could have witnessed the bear digging as I am sure the bees were not happy about the intrusion.

On another note most of the male hummingbirds have gone south. Lee hasn't seen any of them for around 4 days and the consumption of food has dropped significantly. We still have babies and females who will probably be around for another 2 weeks then they too will gradually disappear until next Spring.

Blue Moon last night over Leetonia

Also got a picture of the blue moon over Leetonia last night it was a beautiful clear night. There are a lot of people up for the last major holiday and the weather looks like it may be hot and dry for most of the weekend. Have a great weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bear Problem continues

Front Electric Fence

 After being woke up night after night to dogs barking at one particular bear who has learned the art of draining hummingbird feeders, I put in an electric fence.

The fence runs far enough out the bear can't reach the feeders and goes on three sides of the house.  I decided this to be the safest alternative to retrain the bear. Shooting or spraying anything on the bear involves going outside as he is always next to house and I can't really get a good line on him from any windows. Of course the other solution of not having hummingbird feeders will be my last resort.

Side Electric Fence

The bear is getting braver and not listening to my yelling and the dogs barking inside their enclosed fence area. This concerns me as there is only one more step for him figuring out he is much stronger than any of us.

I am only charging the fence at night and I am placing a hot dog on it to entice him to grab it with him mouth. This will give him a better shock grabbing it with a wet mouth over hitting the line with lots of fur. One or two good shocks should keep him away and save me from the danger of a face to face confrontation. I used this fence to stop a bear from biting another cabin and it didn't take long for them to learn. I will update you as to the progress. He didn't show up the first night I had it up but maybe tonight I will get lucky. Mountain girl, logging out.

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.

Surprise

My sister and her kids are up with my mom for a vacation. So this morning I decided to go for a walk with the 13 year-old twins and our three dogs.
"Can you show me where the blueberries are?" they asked.
"Sure. " I said. "They are on top of the hill."
I have a road that goes back about a quarter mile and then cuts up to the top of my hill. From the top of the hill you can see a lot of the mountains surrounding us this is one of my favorite places. We have a lot of berries on our property: blackberries, raspberries, and wild blueberries(which are called huckleberries locally).
I pointed out the red raspberries and several of them were ripe as well as a few blueberries we found on the side of the hill. So we picked and ate them all the way up to the top and just when I was pointing out a large patch of blueberries. I saw what no one wants to see about 50 yards in front of me. A large black bear also eating the berries. I shouted to Scooter who was a head of me and the bear bolted. Too late Scooter was in pursuit. Now the girls made a bit of a sound and Leo charged and growled, but I had him on a leash so I was able to keep him from also entering the charge. The Chihuahua was quickly scooped up by one of the girls. Then three small heads popped up...cubs! Now I was worried.
I turned everyone around and started them down the hill yelling again for Scooter hoping he had not caught up with the mother. I realized I could do nothing to help Scooter if he didn't stop on his own. For everyone safety I  needed to get everyone away from the cubs. I moved them back down the hill away from the cubs and I saw Scooter coming back to us just as the mother bear stood up over six-foot tall a distance from the cubs ready to share her feelings with anyone coming closer.
Thanks goodness we only have black bears and not grizzlies or we would have all been attacked. The bear let us move back down the mountain with a story I am sure the twins will remember for a while. As they were saying they weren't that scared and weren't the cubs cute my heart was still beating at a fast rate thinking about how close we came to someone or a dog getting seriously hurt.
Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Snaggle Nose LIVES!

Snaggle Nose was first injured in June of 2009. None of us thought he would make it past the first hunting season and yet here he is over two years later. Dutch one of the township road workers took this picture during this summer of the bear right in our front yard. Snaggle Nose was in pursuit of a female bear at the time and didn't seem to care that the men watched him. Somehow he must be able to smell in order to track a female and keep from being shot. Unlike humans who might feel a bit intimidated if half their face was torn off old Snaggle Nose still makes other smaller bears flee in fright at the sight of him. And appears to be quite the lady's man.

I often wondered what the other bear looked like that Snaggle Nose tangled with. He is truly one amazing animal to have not only survived but prospered after an incredibly hard fight. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Do bears Sh*t in the Woods?

 I think I have answered that question with this picture. A bear left this in front of my neighbors camp and often I see piles right in the middle of the road. There must be a half dozen piles on my lane back to pond. I start to wonder if they ever use the woods. There are lots of bears out eating everything in sight bulking up for the winter. One walked down the road in front of house last night and got all the dogs upset...even the chihuahua.

 On a brighter note I saw a little sun today as you can see from second picture. At least enough to cast a shadow off the trees. Some of the leaves are starting to drop and you can see some trees getting a little yellow. Everything is so green from the rain and now I have to push mow the grass cause I snapped the belt on the riding lawn mower. Hopefully, I can get it done before it rains again. Mountain girl, logging out(and cleaning up after bears)!

July 4th weekend

Yesterday, while working down at Hooke's camp a bear came up and started eating some corn left on the ground. It was around 11 am so somewhat unexpected.
Hunter my nephew who had been trying to find a bear was thrilled and got his picture in front of two bears, a live one and a not so live one. You can guess which one was more exciting.
We went to the Galeton "Red Suspender Days", and watched the fire companies compete to spray the little red ball back and forth on a line. The team that puts the ball back over the heads of the other team and hits that teams pole wins.
It was fun on a hot day and many of the kids stood close enough to get caught in the over spray of water.
We are heading down to Slate Run to see their firework display tonight and the weather promises to be perfect. Hope all of you enjoy your 4th of
July celebrations as well. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Wildlife in Leetonia

Lee Anne caught a Wood Turtle walking down the road and the moon rising over the mountain. It almost looks like the turtle is saying, "What are you looking at?"
It was a hot hot day in the upper 80's and about the same amount of humidity. Maybe that turtle was looking for a cool spring to beat the heat. The moon coming up gives hope of a cooler night. It is rare we to need air conditioning here because the cabin stays cool enough during the day if you keep the windows shut.
Then as the outside air cools down, I open the windows and run a large exhaust fan upstairs to pull the hot air out an bring the cooler air inside.
Now a quick change of subject. Snaggle nose the injured bear from last year made it through bear season and the winter. He don't look pretty but he is big. We were surprised he didn't get shot during bear season as he doesn't have the ability to smell much with a tore off nose.
Also word in Slate Run is the DNR is catching bad bears. Thanks to the feeding of the bears some of them have become a bit too brave and are being trapped and relocated. Which usually means we will see a tagged bear up here soon. They like to give us their problem bears.
As much as we all like to see the bears feeding them usually causes problems in the long run. They become brave and destructive and at the worst end are shot. So just be aware feeding that bear might be a death warrant for it. Well, its late and the mountain girl needs to get some shut eye before another day of work. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Hummer time

Lee has pulled out all her hummingbird feeders to prepare for the hummingbird season. They using show up May 1st, but she has seen them as early as the 27th of April.
Lee starts with a couple of feeders partially filled for the early male arrivals. By the end of May all the feeders will be up and full and she will be going through that pitcher everyday sometimes feeding as much as a gallon of syrup a day.
Males come first and stake out the territory. The females will come a couple weeks later. The sound of them zooming past our heads like bottle rockets lets us know winter is definitely behind us.
Many of the camps have trouble with the bears stealing their feeders. I think the sound of dogs inside the cabin keeps that problem away from us. The bears are out catching up on eating. The bears love to get into any bird seed or garbage they can find. It seems when they find a good source of food they will often mark an area by scratching on a tree, post, or cabin. This doesn't make cabin owners too happy. I solved the problem at one camp by putting up electric fence on a corner the bear liked to destroy. Not feeding the bears or birds really cuts back on this activity. I will let you know when we spot the first hummingbird as two feeders are going up today.

Remembering Jack

Jack, a year old, rescued brindle and white Pit Bull came to live with us shortly before we moved to the Leetonia in the fall of 2002. Jack, picked up as a stray in the city, didn’t know the first thing about being a mountain dog. The back of his canine teeth were unusually worn down for such a young dog. He showed us how he wore them down when he bent the metal door off his dog crate. I suspect he escaped many a fenced in yard this way as well.

Jack chased rabbits, squirrels, birds, bears and unfortunately his share of porcupines. His first summer in Leetonia he only caught porcupines and snakes, due to his inexperienced hunting style. I called it burn and churn. He would run fast and loud scaring everything away. Animals hid in the sharp multiflora bushes designed to protect them from predators. Fearless, Jack just viewed this as a minor slowing down as he tore through the bushes, the bushes tore of pieces of his ears off and left thorns in his coat. Later, when I petted him, the thorns would stab me. Daily, I pulled them out one after another. Fearlessness can be bad.

Jack worked with me everyday and kept all the animals out of the area. He thought he was protecting me but sometimes the way he defended me was down-right dangerous. I drove home for lunch, and it was time to go back to work. I opened the back door to walk to my truck. As soon as Jack stepped out the door he snorted and ran to the front of the house. I heard some noise and realized what ever he found he was chasing around the house.

There is a creek that runs close to the edge of our house and then a garage sits at about a 45 degree angle to the house. The garage at its closest point is within 15 feet of the back of the house. Set this way the garage funnels anything that comes around the house toward this narrow point. The point I stood at when I saw a 100lb adolescent black bear coming around the corner, ahead of Jack and directly at me. I had no time to think of anything but the feeling of what a 100lb bear hitting me running at top speed was going to feel like. I braced for impact and the bear lunged over the lawn tractor next to me. Jack gained ground as he passed me he was within two feet of grabbing the bears back leg.

I yelled, “No!”

He stopped and came back to me letting the bear run to freedom. He seemed to smile with pride as he looked at me. If he could have talked I am sure he would have said, “I showed that bear who was boss.”

This wouldn’t be the last time Jack tangled with bears and I feared one would kill the 50lb dog. It was the only time he tried to run me over with one.

We used to keep bird seed in the van to feed birds. Something we stopped doing because of the number of bears it attracted. The bird seed also attracted squirrels, Jack’s favorite thing to catch. Jack’s skills at hunting improved greatly his second summer, fewer thorns and a more thoughtful approach to hunting. He would often sit by the bird seed post and wait for chipmunks. He learned to sit motionless and let them move around a bit. Then in an instant snatched them and placed them in a pile while he waited for another one. It wouldn’t be uncommon for him to have five squirrels in a pile before the rest caught on to him. He was so intent on this nothing would distract him. Not even a female jogger who went within ten feet of him jogging up the mountain thought Jack was a statue. On the way back she jumped when she saw Jack’s ear move. Statue no, smart squirrel dog, yes.

Jack often followed me when I got bird seed out of the van, ready for any little critter that might be in there. This day he would hit the jack pot. As I opened the door, a red squirrel scampered inside the van and Jack leaped in after him. Jack and the squirrel went round and round knocking over everything then the squirrel flew out. And yes, it flew out right at me. It thought I was a tree and started circling and climbing my left leg. Jack flew out as well and was chasing the squirrel around my leg as it climbed higher and higher. I remember holding my breath getting ready to feel the bite of a squirrel or dog. Just as the squirrel got to my waist it flew off into the bushes with Jack close behind. Both the squirrel and I escaped injury or death by a narrow margin on that day.

This was just a couple of Jack escapades; I am hoping to write them all up in the future. But after sharing these stories last week with someone I wanted to share them with you here on the blog. This last picture shows Jack's first encounter with a porcupine.

More snow fell last night, about 4 inches of very wet snow. It was easy traveling early, but as the trucks packed the road it became slippery and dangerous. It was day 2 of bear season. I saw three bears taken in the Leetonia area yesterday. Lee saw one shot next to Brad's in Cedar Run today and I heard several late shots. The bears don't seem to be fairing too well this year.

After a hard day looking for bears these three hunters spent a quiet evening at Cedar Run Inn. The hunter with his arms crossed, boasts of 43 years of bear hunting without a single bear being harmed. The Inn departs from its regular
menu during hunting season and serves one thing to everyone. It is very causal style dining. Lee and I were invited to dinner and enjoyed the mashed potatoes, corn, and stuff chicken breast followed by "fruits of the forest pie", a multiberry delight.

It appears we are to continue having this early snow through Friday, which is the beginning of buck season. This will make travel up here difficult for most flatlanders. I am hoping none of them meet the creek up close. So if you are coming be prepared, bring chains and your 4-wheel drive vehicles. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Weather and Bear Season

Monday is the first day of bear season and a day my dogs dislike. The reason for this is how the hunters hunt. They often form large driving groups yelling and making noise to drive the bears towards the shooters. The dogs aren't used to so much noise in the woods and will growl and bark at the racket. There is something about it that makes even me a little on edge.

As you can see we don't have much snow to the east of us they got hammered with two snows of a foot each. Personally I am glad not to have that kind of snow this early. We still have some work to do. I have to fix the fence in our back yard for an injured dog coming to stay with us in about a week. His name is Thor and is recovering from an amputated rear leg.

I am still doing PT, and feel about 80%, my hardest thing is to get into small spaces, like under cabinets, crawl spaces or like I did yesterday work inside a fireplace box installing a glass door. The twisting irritates the back quickly. We are definitely into the gray short days now and it is difficult to get much done while the sun shines. Hope all of you have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Leo's bad bear day.

Leo, never chased a bear before Jack died last Fall, but decided this Spring it was his job now to take care of them. Jack bit and chased many a bear during his five years up here and the bears never laid a paw on him. Leo wasn't so lucky today.

I was walking toward Hooke's place up the road from mine about a quarter mile. Leo was slightly ahead of me as we approached the camp. I noticed he ran as he approached the pond and thought he was anxious to get a drink.


I came up by the propane tanks to be met by Leo, looking quite scared, hair up. He ran towards me and keep going. I looked where he came from and saw a 300 pound bear down by the feeder. Just then,Scooter, my young dog also saw it and started toward it. I yelled, "No!", and he stopped as the bear ran off. Then the heavens opened up with a downpour and I headed for cover under the porch with the dogs.

I decided to call Lee on the phone to come and get us when the rain turned to hail with lightening. Leo was acting jumpy and I thought it was because of the thunderstorm. The dogs and I jumped in the car, and Lee said, "What smells? Did one of those dogs roll in something?" I swore they didn't as we drove home, but I noticed the smell too.

Once we got inside the cabin with good lighting I noticed Leo's back and side had been clawed by the bear. This explained the smell and Leo's nervousness. I put him in the tub and cleaned everything off well, peroxided it, and put antibiotic ointment on the wounds. He had three puncture wounds on his back, one is quite deep and a claw scratch on the side. He faired very well for being tagged by a bear. It is yet to be seen if he will need to go to the vet and get some antibiotics as these kind of wounds can get infected fast. I am betting Leo will be much more careful around bears as he is not the bravest dog, but definitely the luckiest dog tonight. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out!