Mama Diaries

Friday, October 18, 2013

Beware of the Bear

Bears have been sighted where my family and I live.  There was a cute picture in the newspaper of a mama bear and two cubs casually walking across a neighborhood street that looked a lot like ours.

"Whoa," said my son when he saw the picture. "There are bears here?"

"Looks that way," I said, glancing at another picture of a fat black bear climbing over a wooden fence to get into somebody's back yard.

I read further.  "What to do if you see a bear:  Don't run. Don't bother it. Got that, Bubba?"

He nodded.

Reading on:  "Tips to prevent bear visits:  Keep small animals inside.  Don't leave garbage cans outside.  Don't leave pet food outside."

Bubba got concerned after I read that.  "Mama, we're definitely going to have a bear visit!  Bootsy (our adopted stray cat) lives outside.  Our garbage cans are outside.  And Bootsy eats his food outside!"

Hmm.  Big problem.  Bootsy is good at fighting raccoons, but I'm not so sure how he'd do against a bear.   What do you think?  Should we construct a giant barbed-wire fence around our property?  I wonder how the home owner's association would feel about that!

19 comments:

  1. A bear would find its way in regardless. Hopefully bears in the neighborhood discourage robberies though.

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  2. Not much to stop bears- I hope you figure out a solution!

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    1. I'm afraid you're right. Hopefully the bears won't visit my neighborhood!

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  3. I think bears are unbeatable wherever they are. Hope your stray cat will be ok.
    Yvonne.

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    1. He's a pretty smart cat, so I think he'll do whatever he can to avoid being bear food.

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  4. Sounds like your neighborhood is similar to my sister's who lives in one of the suburbs of Atlanta. She had a bear come up to the bottom of her front porch stairs. (just being nosy, but he heard a noise and left of his own accord).

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    1. I never would have thought I'd have to worry about bears in Atlanta!

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  5. I guess I'll stay with the rats in Jacksonville. They're smaller than I am. Bears can be pretty scary.

    Love,
    Janie

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  6. Bears are as clever as raccoons. They'd find a way into wherever they want. Just don't let Schultz out there! The cat, I'm sure, knows how to take care of itself.

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    1. Schultz would probably want to make friends with the bear. And I'm afraid that wouldn't go so well for Schultz!

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  7. The cat can scurry away quickly i bet. Coyotes would be worse than a bear for him. Bear may be worse for you though lol

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    1. I am quite amazed at how fast our cat is. I'm sure you're right about him scurrying away. As far as I know, there are no coyotes around here.

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  8. If the Homeowner's Assoc complains about the fence, sic the bear on them. (And I love the name "Bootsy.") :-)

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  9. Quite scary. I've heard of stories from friends who have encountered bears, definitely not what I want to run into.

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  10. Wow, I hope you don't get any visits from the bears.


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