New Jersey Baby Boomer

We have had many visit from black bears this summer of 2010, and so have many others in Northern New Jersey and other parts of the State.

This year, there will be a bear hunt. I always have such mixed feelings about the bear hunt. I love animals, all of them, and as you can see from the pictures below, the mom and cubs walking through our yard are so cute.

We also have a young mid-sized bear that frequents the property…in fact our Yorkie, tiny as she is, yapped and chased it off the property and lived to tell…this time.

Every time we take her out, or walk to our cars at night, or walk out the door for that matter, we have to look both ways, and carry her in our arms until we are sure there are no bears. We see them on our property approximately 1-2 times a week, sometimes more.

Usually it’s the mom and cubs. Then there’s the HUGE bear, a gnarly looking old bear, that is the most intimidating bear of all. Our property…right up against the house and past the front door…are part of it’s pathway through the neighborhood. He occasions our trash, but we have things rigged now so that it is so hard for them to get at the trash, they don’t try much anymore. (I may eat those words in a day or two). And the “medium-sized” bear I told you about that my dog chased. These are our “regulars”.

I haven’t felt comfortable walking this summer…not because of the heat, but because of the bears. I never walk out my door completely relaxed, always have to be conscious of whether a bear is going to come around the side of the house…and believe me it happens.

Have we been attacked? No, not yet, but I’ve seen a threatening snort or two, especially from the Mom of the cubs…a Mom protecting her cubs is probably the most dangerous if you get near the cubs, or between her and the cubs.  In fact she came at the end of last week and tore down our bird feeder in broad daylight and enjoyed the seeds with her cubs, destroying the feeder.  Used to be that I could put out a feeder during the day and bring it in at night, then out again the next day.  But that isn’t working this year, it’s the second daytime feeder destruction of the summer, so I think I’ll have to wait until winter to feed the birds….disappointing.

So, the bear hunt seems like it’s necessary…even though I hate the idea.

Mom….

…and the Kids (Cubs) walking through our front yard after coming around the side of the house. Taken from the front door.  See how cute they are and why I am so conflicted?

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