Bear Heart

Recently we've seen a dramatic increase in our local population; bears are scrambling down from the high country with napkins tied around their necks. With limited rains food becomes scarce for most high dwelling  creatures and their hunger directs them towards the abundance of fruit that floods our valley.  Farmers aren't the only ones who suffer through droughts.  The bears are starving and winter has hardly begun.

Allison now grasps the sleepless condition that is usually only familiar to new parents since a handful of bear started to visit her orchard each night. Photos are in order, and though the bears would make excellent subjects, I'm excited by Allison's bear scare-outfit: boots, shot gun, and a nighty-- haute couture in these parts.

For every bear spotted last season there are about seven this year, yet they still managed to give Dev a thrill in their smaller numbers. Dev heard a late night clamor by the chicken coop, grabbed his flashlight, and raced to the rescue. He dashed inside the coop pulling the door behind him just as a bear grabbed the other side of the handle. 

After a few seconds of tug of war, Dev let go of the door, swung his flashlight high, and brought it down swiftly over the top of the bear's head.  Startled, the bear dropped to all fours, turned, and hurtled away. Beside wrecking havoc on Dev's sleep cycle, this bear took the entirety of our beloved chicken, Rosa's, tail feathers. We've taken to calling our hearty survivor Bear-Bare Butt. 

Across cultures bears represent courage and bravery, two things missing from my ife lately. Without my notice, defeat quietly and silently filled the void created by their absence and left me immobilized and disoriented like celestial navigator facing an unrelenting, thick cloud cover.  But today I surrendered to the fear and the soft vulnerability within, and like the first flickering of day light, my strength began to break through, hungry, eager, and waking from hibernation. 

This is Rosa, who had a close encounter with a bear.

Although the bear made off with her tail feathers she manages to live a happy and full life.

This is Dev. I live on his property. Every time I imagine him hitting a bear with a flash light I giggle.

This bear was hit by a car while crossing the high way late at night. She was butchered and frozen for winter meals.