The MH called this morning to tell me there was a bear in his neighbor’s yard last night. Looks like it came up the creek from the river, and took out the neighbor’s birdfeeder. He said there wasn’t too much damage, but the sliding glass door is covered in big bear paw prints.

We discussed whether I should take my feeder down — I’ve really come to love my little birdfeeder. It’s right outside the kitchen window and watching the birds is such a pleasure when I’m doing dishes. They’re just ordinary little birds: sparrows and finches and chickadees with the occasional woodpecker or flicker for excitement.

I think I’ll keep it up for a few more days and see what the bear situation in town looks like. The MH lives down by the river, where there’s more wildlife than up here in my part of town. Even in the fall when my apple trees are dumping ripe fruit all over my yard, I’ve never had a bear up this far (although I am only two blocks from Fleishman Creek). I’m in the middle of the block, and a bear would have to come up a long alley to get to my backyard. There’s no sweet little creek to follow. We’ll have to see, I’d hate to lose my feeder, but birdfeeders are a real problem out here in bear country. To a hungry bear, a full birdfeeder is a gift — all that protein and fat — and as the saying goes “a fed bear is a dead bear.” So, time to keep an eye on the situation. If the bears are coming into town, the word will be out, and the feeder may have to come down.