The Unbearable Bears

I’m reading a book in bed when I hear a sound in the darkness outside, the sound of someone putting out trash cans, however it’s kind of late for that and I have a lingering feeling that the sound isn’t made by my neighbors, but rather, something else. I climb out of my bed quietly as I’m stalking, and move to the window silently, to see how my neighbors guest opens the lid of the trash can, looks inside the can and is obviously trying to make a choice. Once the choice is made the dude gets clumsy, and the bin falls over. He doesn’t care, he has found what he wanted as he carries his treasure into the woods.

There are somewhere between 25K to 30K black bears in the State of Washington, and depending on your point of view I’m one of the lucky or unlucky ones that get to share my living space with them. I also get to share my space with bobcats, coyotes, deer, owls, pine squirrels and plenty of bunnies. As I write this there is a male deer with beautiful antlers on the side of my house feeding on the plants. I won’t even try to take a picture as he will be gone as soon as I stand up and he sees the movement.

For me, the bunnies are the most annoying species as they eat most of the things I try to grow, but over the years I have managed to narrow down plants that the bunnies have no interest in whatsoever. Just as an example, did you know that pretty much the only spring bulb they don’t like is daffodil, and now we have daffodils in our front yard instead of ripped tulips and chewed grape hyacinths. In the beginning, I tried repellents, I tried planting mint next to the tasty plants, and I tried fencing my plants in, but as nothing worked, I finally gave up and started picking plants that they don’t like, such as bear berries, hydrangeas, peonies, junipers, rosemary and lavender.

But back to living with the big black neighbors of ours. In my neighborhood, a large master planned community with close to 700 homes, these animals are a hot topic every spring and summer as we are divided roughly into three groups, the fearful, the fascinated and those whom just don’t care. For the fearful the frustrating part is that King County and Washington Department of Wildlife belongs to the third group, those whom just don’t care as black bears are considered pretty much a nuisance rather that a threat, and even though I belong to those whom are fascinated by them, I do understand that it might seem unfair that the state authorities treat these several hundred pound animals just like they treat the bunnies in my front yard, something you just have to learn to tolerate.

This dude was walking past our home a few weeks back.

I have never feared an animal. Respected yes, and held a safe distance, but never feared, and until recent I had a hard time understanding the fear, that seemed irrational. But fears are irrational and how ever much you try to explain to yourself that it’s okay you are still afraid. I learned this after Mia got bit by a dog. I have had dogs for my entire life. I train dogs, I respect dogs and I have seen accidents happen before. But after Mia got bitten in a situation where there is absolutely no way to talk it right and defend the animal something happened. I’m still not afraid of dogs as I trust myself with them, but I’m afraid my child being around a dog that isn’t mine. I have a strong, irrational urge of pulling her back and telling her to keep her distance, however safe I know that dog is, and understanding how awesome it is that she is not afraid of dogs after everything that happened. But I really do have to work hard on not saying a word, not saving her from something that is only inside my head and not a real thing. So, at some level, I finally understand.

So, the bears tend to be a hot topic, and as much as some of us try to educate, it doesn’t really change anything for the reason mentioned above. What we all hopefully do agree on, is the fact that we should not teach these visitors that we have food to offer and thus make sure there is no food for them around our homes by keeping the garbage in the garage or locked, and however beautiful the hummingbirds are, just removing their feeders as the bears like the sweet sugary liquid too. Kind of as with the bunnies, just go with the flow and make your home less interesting by removing the source of food.

I have seen several black bears in my life. All of them either in our back alley carrying someone’s trash or just wandering within our neighborhood. The funny thing is, that I use our trail systems several times a week with Martha, and I not once have I ran into a bear in the woods. I have roamed the woods since I was a child, and I have seen elk – yes, the big ones, deer, owls, pileated woodpeckers, pine squirrels and hundreds of others, but never a bear. That, to me, shows evidence in the fact that the bears are not after us but the bear McDonald’s, or Starbucks if you prefer, in our alleys and yards.