So I got a call at work from Ross. For a brief second I thought someone was pulling a prank on me because all I heard was heavy breathing on the line. After a second or two Ross, breathless, said hello. Of course I am starting to panic-Ross breathless and calling me at work is not a good sign that things are as they should be. He told me that we had a big black bear in the backyard that was interested in our bird feeder.
I should note for all those who haven't read any of my earlier posts that my neighbor has several bird feeders and has had trouble with black bears who happen to think that they are little birdies. I guess they seem to like the seed, and they are now trained to search it out.
Now having the bear interested in the bird feeder is not really a bad thing (although I would prefer that it would get its fill somewhere else, and I'm sure my neighbor is thinking the same thing about his feeders). What makes it bad is that the bird feeder is really close to the bee hive and the chicken coop. The last thing I need is to have the bear realize that we have a smorgasbord of good eats in our yard!
So with the bear's proximity to the coop and hive in mind I take you back to my phone call. I asked Ross what was wrong and he told me about the bear in between breaths. I asked him if the chickens were alright and secured and he said yes. I asked him if he had ran away from it and he said "no, I chased it." [long pause]
"You chased it?" "Yeah, I chased it, and it ran away behind the blueberry bushes." [another long pause]
I can only assume that this is one of those moments that parents experience when their child does something so utterly crazy and incredible that the parents are left secretly filled with pride while at the same time knowing they have to admonish the behavior lest the dumb kid get killed. In this case the dumb kid happens to be my very loving and overly protective husband; he was not about to lose another chicken this year.
After letting the idea of Ross chasing a bear sink into my brain, I asked him to please never do it again. I also reminded him that a bear could out run him, and if it felt threatened enough it could decide to fight instead of flee. I know Ross has a tough spirit, but I think the bear might take him in a fight.
Once I got home Ross clarified that he did not go chasing the bear through the yard. He merely went to the end of the garden which is next to the back porch and yelled at it to go away. This is still a bit too close for my comfort, but it worked. Ahhh, the crazy life of us country folk never ceases to amaze me!
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