Blog From A Hermit Dot Com

We’ve had such a cool, wet spring and summer, our normally abundant wild blackberries have been slow to mature.  Signs (scat and one fat footprint) indicate this is drawing the bears a little closer in – to the few meadow-edge, blackberry patches that have begun ripening.  Berries are an important pre-hibernation, fatten-up food for the bears.

We have no grizzlies in this area - just (hungry) black bears. They reside on private forest land, which is surrounded by human population – rural changing to suburban.  The bears prefer to avoid humans altogether (smart). If you avoid surprising them, the bears just lumber off as soon as they become aware of a human. Even a sow with cub will give humans a wide berth if possible - the key for humans is to avoid getting between the Mom and her cub (the true danger point with black bears); or as with all bears - avoid surprising or engaging them.

So I’ve been singing on some of my walks lately – those that take me near the blackberries – giving the bears a lot of warning.  To remind myself to sing, I’ve been wearing my iPod* -  not even I like to listen to myself a cappella.

The cats frequently walk with me and are also great early warning systems.  On one of our walks today, the cats got a little ahead of me.  With their keen sense of smell, they obviously sensed no danger.  I suddenly noticed both cats had stopped and were staring back at me - like they thought there was something terribly wrong.  They hadn’t reacted to my singing this way in the past.  I wondered for a moment if there was a bear behind me.  But then I realized – singing away to a favorite playlist, I’d begun to dance – arms flailing, hips swaying, doing a little fancy footwork right there on the trail - truly enjoying myself alone in the woods.

But I wasn’t alone, of course. I’d upset the cats with my unfamiliar movements - or at least fascinated them.  A couple of small planes had just flown low overhead, too.  I wondered what the pilots thought. I started laughing  to myself, hoping everyone enjoyed the show.  And as for the bears – maybe I don’t even need to sing – just dance like a human - the gyrations alone may be enough to send critters in retreat.

*I am aware (and Griz pointed out) that in my post on personal Tasers, I said I would not go into a dangerous situation wearing headphones.  With reasonable precautions, I do not consider neighboring with black bears particularly dangerous. In many ways, the bears’ presence here indicates just how safe we are.