Subject: [Tweeters] Unexpected visitors at the bird feeder
Date: Dec 26 11:28:35 2007
From: ravenintherain - ccorax at blarg.net


Jamie Samans wrote:
> Raccons?!?!
>
> We had a very unexpected guest at our feeders last summer -- a black bear!
> He/she would come up on our deck, pull the bottom off the sunflower seed
> feeder, and lap up all the seeds. It would also steal all of the suet we
> put out for the woodpeckers. We started bringing everything in but he/she
> still came about twice a week (the dogs always let us know when it was even
> thinking about making an appearance), poking around and gorging on the apple
> and pear trees in our front yard. Once the fruit was done for the year, the
> bear moved on (or hibernated).
>
What a treat! I know it can be a bit of an irritant, but I would
consider it a privilege to be visited that way. It's surprising how
many bears are still in that area. I'm an unwilling urbanite but I come
out and walk the Preston-Fall City trail occasionally and always see a
lot of bear scat. John McPhee writes about the bear/human relationship
along the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border in one of his books -- I think
it's _Giving Good Weight_. You might find it interesting reading.
Thanks for sharing that.

Dale

--
Dale Chase
(AKA ravenintherain)
Seattle, Washington
ccorax at blarg.net