We interrupt this Blog…
The next question: “Did you ever stay here?” has been interrupted for another question…
Do you ever see any wildlife?
The answer is YES! As winter gives way to spring, the forest is bursting with new arrivals. The trees are budding, fronds of the fiddlehead fern are unfurling, the first signs of the wildflowers are poking up from the soil, the new born fawns are trying to find their footing and the black bear are rising from their long winter slumber.
Summer is the most active time of year. The visitors are out hiking the hundreds of miles of trails in search of the roaring waterfalls and scenic vistas of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and the Ottawa National Forest. But the visitors come in many species. The newly born fawn are learning to navigate the forest and, oh yes, the black bear are out searching for their next meal. It is not everywhere you can walk down the side of the road with the possibility of passing a bear walking down the other side!
Bear love to eat! They love to eat bird seed. Seems an odd choice, but nevertheless, it does seem to be a favorite. This is why bird feeders are taken down and brought inside at night, the time the bears most frequently search for a midnight snack. How they find the feeders is still something of a mystery to me. But they also find the seed where you least expect.
Over the winter and spring we regularly feed the birds and the seed is kept in an outside storage trunk on the deck in front of our sliding glass door. As summer began and the birds found other sources for food and the bears were making their way out of the dense forest, we took down the bird feeders. However, we forgot all about the remaining seed in the storage trunk.
Shortly after midnight a loud thunk sent us to look out the sliding glass door. At first we didn’t see anything. Then we noticed the storage trunk, 4x2x2, was laying in the backyard and no longer on the deck! Upon further inspection over the railing, there he was, a 400-500 pound black bear not 20 feet from our door munching away on the forgotten seed! Can’t believe it? Check out the video!
[youtube id=”eOpBEvfgGOg” width=”600″ height=”350″]
Stay tuned next week for our regularly scheduled blog…