Harvey just came in to report a remarkable meeting in our upper pasture where the old cleared land meets the bush and the old apple trees run out. Harvey was repairing the electric-tape, strip-grazing fence where out neighbours dairy cows has broken through having come down the road from their farm and turned into our driveway a week or so ago. He was kneeling, pushing the testers ground into the soil, to check if the fence was working and he looked into the grass at the base of an apple tree. He saw what he thought was a dog and was about to call it when he saw another. He then heard crunching above him in the tree. Momma bear was steadily eating apples while the very small cubs hid in the grass below. The tree was so thick with leaves and apples that he could not see much of mom, just listened to her crunching. He got up and walked away to come down to the house.This sort of detente has been our experience with bears on this property; a live-and-let-live with the moms and cubs allowed to eat from all the outer trees. They have been trained with bear-banger flares, as yearlings and two-year-olds, to leave the inner trees alone, near the house. Cubs are raised here every year and in 28 years we have not had an angry momma. We are not foolish about bears, though, and we know some of this is probably good luck as well as good-will on the parts of both species.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 17:03:09 +0000
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