It was great to see a mama bear and her two cubs enjoying sniffing around in our back yard for moles and field mice, plus our apple tree is loaded with organic apples for them to munch on. I've been hobbling down to the apple tree occasionally and although the apples aren't quite ripe, I still enjoy that taste of sourness, which reminds me of when I was a boy raiding the neighbour's fruit trees so long ago. I thought about going down for an apple this morning but with a mama bear and her two inquisitive cubs hanging about for the past two days, I decided it was a bad and possibly a dangerous idea. I've had several close encounters with bears over the years but they all moved on about their business. It's that feeling of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment that always concerns me, which can happen at any time if one is not aware of their surroundings while wandering about in the forest..
It's great to have a 50 acre back yard because we get to enjoy all sorts of wildlife besides the bears; foxes, raccoons, moose, porcupines, skunks and deer and of course those pesky squirrels are often seen, especially since we no longer have a dog. I'm of the belief, if you leave them alone, they'll leave me alone. I find it a bit shameful that the bears, deer and other wild animals are often baited instead of actually being hunted. Although I could have shot many a wild animal enjoying our apples, put venison and such on the table, especially when I can afford to fill the freezer with beef, pork and chicken, I really don't see the point in killing the forest creatures.
I grew up in big cities made of concrete and glass, which were inundated with masses of people and vehicles of every kind and thought they were wonderful, however, I have to admit that I feel more at home living next door to Nature. There's a quietness that abounds and when the sun sets, the quietness is doubled and the multitude of stars to be seen are remarkable compared to a city-slicker's evening. For me, I feel a connection, the roots of my forefathers, especially my grandfather and grandmother, who homesteaded on the banks of the mighty Fraser River, after journeying by foot, stagecoach and wagon from North Carolina in the late 1800's. They were basically farmers and I'm so glad they weren't racists or bigots filled with hatred like so many other southern Americans were and still are. When I was a young lad, I often went roaming through the forests on their homestead without even a trail to follow. And getting back to bears, I remember once as a boy, a trusty .22 in my hands coming across a small bog. When I saw the water dripping off some branches and leaves, I realized that I had disrupted a bear taking advantage of that muddy pool. I wasn't scared but I was certainly all ears and eyes until I arrived back at my grandfolk's two story log house that my grandfather had built with a team of horses and his two bare hands. I don't feel akin to a bear but I do have respect for such a strong and intelligent animal that when it comes to family, has as much love and tolerance for their young ones as we do...peace, eh - Trip
