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Here’s a recent sighting of a young bull moose near our house. That’s Russ Murdoch’s new log home in the background ( East Cornwall Road ). Earle Taylor

We had a lovely gathering at the Trinity Concert and then at the Milton Hall Tree Lighting tonight, and several people asked me if it was safe to put the bird feeders out again.

To answer the question…No, it is not. We had a large, but not extra large, bear that came up on our deck tonight at about 9 p.m. We chased it away by yelling and clanging pot lids together. Then, I called the Lefferts next door, and lo and behold, the bear appeared near their back door…much to the thrill of their dinner guests!

Bill Dunn maintains the bears won’t go to sleep until the first snow, and it seems as if he’s correct.

Hope this information is helpful to you.

Janet

Well, apparently the word got out about the Sawmill/Headquarters Monday Night Buffet and now you’ll be happy to know there is also a Friday Morning Breakfast session, as evidenced by Mr. Green Ear Tags himself in the photo above. He showed up at our house at 8 a.m. this morning – just after John had put out this feeder that we only put out in the daytime. We scared him away and he went north.

We received a message from Kathy and Gary Lang with photos showing this same bear was at their house (south of us) at lunch time. This is the same bear that Kim Gauvain had photographed eating her garbage.

The main thing is that the bears are out foraging for all kinds of food to pack on the pounds before they go into hibernation. This particular bear doesn’t seem to be the least bit afraid of humans, so it will continue to raid the neighborhood. I reported the sighting to the DEP this morning, but I got the impression they won’t do anything about it unless we file a formal complaint about it.

I will check with our friend at the DEP tomorrow and find out when they consider a bear’s behavior bad enough to do something about it. At least one Milton resident feels that something dangerous might happen if we don’t nip it in the bud. I will let you all know what I find out.

In the meantime, I would suggest no bird feeders, and don’t put your garbage out until the early morning, if possible. Keep garbage cans inside closed garage doors, and don’t leave pet food outdoors. We certainly don’t want to encourage more visits from our hungry black furry friends. They have a right to live in Milton, too, but we just want them to stay in the woods and not in our yards.

Have a good holiday weekend.

Janet

7:15 p.m. Yeah, 20 minutes ago. We’re in the hot tub doing our thing, clothed in a smile and sipping a glass of Rhine, when Holly, who has been on the phone almost continuously since we got home from the hospital (another story for another day) screams, “Oh my God! A bear!”

Out lumbers this huge black bear with dirt on it snout and a quizzical smile. Okay, so I made that up. The rest is true.

Like I say, we’re in the tub and suddenly we are presented with options. Stay and watch or beat feet! We elect to stay, for awhile. Neat thought.

The bear comes out onto my maintenance shed apron, chooses to walk the thin line between the shed and the Wisteria that seldom blooms (seen it happen once in 16 years) and boldly walks where who knows how many bears have walked before – unbeknownst to us. This time it’s not unbeknownst.

Holly, a lover of beauty who finds a bear in our yard quite the thrilling thing, says, “Oh how beautiful.” She continues to talk to whoever’s on the other end and shares her conversaton with me and the other party.

Now, this is a big one and amazingly, it gets bigger and bigger as it ambles fearlessly toward us. I had taken the feeders in only minutes before, so it was not to get the meal of birdseed it wanted. It crossed my mind that these black bears are herbiverous. I was checking to see what kind of a plant it might think I am, when Holly reported that it was now altogether too close (about 30 feet and closing) and option number two might be a wise plan.

I stood up ( I know, it looked ridiculous). The bear stopped and when Holly also stood, it apparently thought we’d ganged up on it, and happily, it beat feet.

Somehow we didn’t mind that it plowed through our northwest garden and was gone.

I had mentioned to Janet recently that I hoped people who are plagued with bears (or at least sight them) would call the State and report the sighting.

In my view they are beautiful creatures, but they are becoming too numerous and I refuse to think of a 400 pound anything as CUTE!

Anyone out there have a plan? Your blog comments are welcome.

Dick and Holly

Thought you might want to let everyone know that the bears are out in full force. Last evening between 7:00 and 7:30, we received a knock on the door from a fellow neighbor. I am very sorry I do not know her name a very pretty woman with long red hair who walks every evening. I believe she lives on Headquarters Road in the white cape just before it turns to dirt. She told us that the bear had drug our garbage across the street. [That would have been Toby McKinnon. JB]

This particular one was not afraid of people and sat across the street and ate our garbage for at least 40 minutes. My sister Gayleen and her husband Leigh Pont arrived on their bikes and they watched him from our yard for another 10 minutes. As they rode away, they saw a second bear walking up the Watson’s driveway. I saw one of them again this morning at 8:00 as I was leaving for work.

Kim

We have been visited four or five times this summer by a youngish-looking bear – I’m guessing she’s a yearling (which means her mama must be somewhere nearby!).  Most recently (August 22?) she was apparently interrupted when I drove in the driveway at round 6:00 pm as the pole holding four feeders was on the ground, one of the feeders was found nearby in the bushes, and one is still missing.  Her reach is about five feet I would guess, given that she can bring down a window feeder at that height, but not the one that’s hung at six feet +.  She is not tagged, and we haven’t reported her – I was told the DEP is not very interested these days.  True or no?

We’ve taken our feeders in for several days.  Each time I put them back I diligently take them down at night for a few days, then decide she’s lost interest, leave them up – and back she comes.  I hate to quit feeding the birds but may have to.  Much as we enjoy living with wildlife I know it is not healthy for them to become habituated to humans or comfortable in residentiall areas.

Susan Eanes
12 Headquarters Road

As told to me by Don S. of Hubbard Pines: “A big black bear aproached my garden…” (note that it contains over 500 eight foot tall tomato plants of the variety Pear, Marzano, and Brandywine, each bearing fruit). “It was the tomatoes or me, so I threw a stone at the bear, and hit it at 20 yards.” I asked Don, “Are you crazy, what happened?” He said ” Nothing happened, so I threw another stone, and hit it again — it was the tomatoes or me!” Totally dazzled at the prospect, I said, “then what happened?” The reply, “The bear walked away.” This time it was neither the tomatoes nor Don. And they are all specimen quality.