Monday, September 15, 2008

The bear and the ballerina

We woke up this morning to an average day, nothing really seemed out of place until HD noticed our bird feeder was missing.  HD comes over to our large window every morning to see if any hummingbirds are hanging out and this morning when he did he noticed our large squirrel proof feeder was missing.  He went right outside and to our surprise it was in the yard, the feeder was hanging from metal cord but now the cord was ripped in two pieces.  The feeder was about 10 feet away and beat all to heck!  It was no doubt a bear, the bear who has been getting into our neighbors trash.




Minutes after we found our badly beaten bird feeder, I decided to call and freak my very bear phobic Mom.  She immediately said I am surprised it didn't bother the chickens....
I ran to the window and two of our chickens were running around the yard, our chickens are not supposed to be running around the yard!  I didn't want to scare the kids and I didn't know what we would find when we got out there so I yelled to HD "the B-E-A-R (all spelling this) G-O-T the C-H-I-C-K-E-N-S  R-U-N, HD does not like the spelling game and me yelling spelling at the top of my lungs so did not keep the kids from getting scared, HD runs from the bathroom as I am running out the door and he tells me to wait!  He went first and you won't believe what that bear did, it literally ripped two boards off the back of the chicken coop so that it could get to our little chicken, all we found of Henny was blood and feathers.



I called the game warden who very rudely informed me that during a drought lots of bears go into neighborhoods, I  quickly stifled her by saying first of all I do not live in a neighborhood I live in the great big forest, and I have for the last 5 years and bears by nature do not go around killing things so I am not calling to tell you I have had a bear sighting but rather that a bear has ripped down walls to kill a chicken and left the corn meal which was easier to reach than the chicken to kill the CHICKEN!  She then changes her tone, and puts me through to a wild life biologist who I never really got to talk to only voice mail, and she tells me oh we are dealing with an agressive bear that is out of character, so like is it come break down my door to get a cookie out of character or like hmmmm thats odd, she said she can't answer that!
We had to go on with our day but I will say we stayed inside, we kept looking out the windows, we kept our dogs inside too.
On a much better note, Daisy had her first ballet lesson today!  She did fabulous for a first timer, she spun with the best of them!  And I do believe she was the prettiest girl in the whole place, I might be a bit prejudice but she is simply beautiful!









We are leaving some lights on tonight so that we can see the bear if he comes back for another free meal, and  I think we might leave our bedroom window open so we can hear any noise.  HD has one of those digital outdoor camera's he is hanging on a tree as I type this, yes he is out in the dark with a very large bear looming around and he is not one bit afraid, me, me, scared to death!  I told him to take a gun for crying out loud and he keeps telling me black bears are more afraid of us than we are of them, I say well you don't see me in his back yard tamping around do you?
If we get any pictures tonight I will let you know...

16 comments:

Dawn @ simply transparent said...

yikeser!

I'm very afraid of bears ...and i hope this one get's caught or never comes back around...the likly hood of this is slim though seeing how he knows where he can get a free dinner scared or not...be very careful!

littletoesandcheerios said...

Such a scary, scary story...with a happy ending of pics of that beautiful ballerina:)
Please, stay inside!!

Our life is a bowl of Barry's said...

Your commentary made me smile!! I'd be scared of a bear too, and why is it that when we are the most worried our husband's act like it's no big thing? We have chickens too, but our biggest threat is coyotes. Thankfully we have not yet had to wake to anything like your experience! Hope the bear got his fill and stays away. Daisy did look pretty cute. I'm contemplating ballet or gymanstics for my 3.5 year old little girl....I can't decide..her dad wants her to play soccer when she is old enough and I'm thinking 'she will do something girly since she is my ONLY little girl out of 5 children!!' ANyhow, hope you sleep tonight :-)

Anonymous said...

WOW!

What an adventure! I am very glad that you, hubby, and young ones are okay and that the worst of the damage was to Henny and stuff instead of you! Poor Henny though!

Keep us posted!

Blessings!
Lacy

Happy Mommy said...

Bowl of Berry's~ I so recommend a ballet class, my daughter turned 3 in July and this was perfect for her, I think we will try that in the spring. With the boys in football I already know Daisy will cheer too.

P.S.~ our neighbor goes to church with a game warden and she called him last night, he is going to come over today and we might be able to talk them into trapping the bear.... Although we live in the woods and the mountains this is the first time a bear has ever been an issue, and if they don't do anything I think it will be back.
In 19 days bear season opens up and well I guess I'll be posting recipes on how to make bear pot roast.

Amanda said...

EEk, I'm scared for you! Your post makes me happy about my safe city life. And bear season? I didn't know there was such a thing!

JMRCH said...

Bear...Yikes, he surely sounds like an agressive one, like you said! What did the game people say they could do? Are they going to come out and trap it? I hope you guys don't have any more trouble from him.

Daisy is adorable in her little tutu!

Twice Blessed said...

I'm not even going to comment on the bear situation! FREAKS me out too much! Daisy is the cutest ballerina in the whole wide world!

Anonymous said...

Ummmm yeah! And yet another reason why I never go camping and will never live in the country.
Hope the bear goes back to his home and leaves yours alone! Poor chickie!

Growin' With It said...

toooo scary for this city dweller to think about. and i was gonna have chicken for dinner tonight. now how i can i eat it w/o thinking about poor henny. hee hee!

man girl, be safe! and i hope they take you more seriously and do something about "pooh bear"! pff, he's suppose to eat honey not birdfood!!

Colleen - Mommy Always Wins said...

Wow, scary! Hope they can find that troublesome bear!

Ruby Wife said...

Don't get me started with the bear......we've had people down the street from us see one but for me.....I would sell!!! And move closer to your friend! Daisy is an absolute angel....Love the PINK!!

Wani said...

Great blog. Beautiful family! I'm 28 yr old, wife of 5.5yrs, mom to Nate 3yr and Joe 18mos, homeschool grad, and am starting to prehomeschool Nate. Nice to meet another mommy-blogger!

marky said...

Aacckk! So what happened? did he return?

littletoesandcheerios said...

We sent you package out today...pony express. Sorry, it's taken so long. Please make sure the bear doesn't get it.

Kristy with a K said...

HECK YEAH I'M BEAR PHOBIC !!!!! And with good reason, see, one came right to your house. OMG !!! I'm not sure I want to know if it comes back, what with staying at your house next weekend.
Daisy is the most beautiful ballerina I have ever seen, and she looks like a natural in these pictures.