June 3, 2010 -  Bear!  Last night we had a little black furry visitor to the feeder and it was our first bear sighting of this year.  This was one of the smallest bears I have seen here and it was very curious.  It was just after midnight while I was working on the computer that the outside motion light came on.  I stood up and saw a small bear headed towards the back door of the house.  The box from a large cake was sitting on top of the grill to be disposed off and despite all my efforts; it still had some scrapes of cake and frosting.  The bear stood up and scared itself as it knocked the box off the grill.  After a quick twenty yard sprint it came back and began licking out the box.  By then Sue and I were watching through the back door and it was about two feet from us, so we had a really good view.  Sue went back to bed (I woke her up to show her the bear) and I snuck out the front door of the studio and around to the back on the studio deck.  Four motion lights clicked on as I carefully eased around until I could see the bear, which was still licking the cake box.  Eventually the bear moved off and then came back.  I was standing motionless by the studio, up on the deck about three feet off the ground.  The motion lights lit me up, but one was shinning at the bear’s head and he walked right up to me and then headed for the stairs just about three fee away.  I decided to stand there and see what it would do.  It stood at the edge of the stairs and then after a few moments turned and walked off a little into the back yard and then down into the swamp.  It was quite interesting to be so close to it and listen to the breathing and sniffing.

From what I see this morning, I assume the bear came back after I went to bed.  The glass jar from the bird feed that hangs on a rope was laying on the ground in the back yard.  It would have been in the bear’s reach if it stood up.  I did see the bear go over to it last night and sniff a few times, but it didn’t seem too interested at the time.  I’m sure that this won’t be the last we see this bear.

Guess who came back in the daylight?  He showed up about 9pm.  I was able to sneak out on the deck and shoot some pictures.  Then when his head was behind the feeder and his nose stuck between the wood and glass, I was able to slowly go down the steps and over behind the maple tree.  I was about 12 feet from him when I was behind the tree.  I leaned out and took some shots and after twenty minutes of all this, I stepped out to see what he would do.  He sort of woofed and snorted and ran off.  He stopped and stared from about 50 yards until I moved again.  It’s 9:37 now and he is back already.  While I’m writing this he is out at the feeder licking and eating.  Sue snuck out behind the tree this time and then talked to him for a little bit.  I think he finally figured out she was real and real close and he bolted - so did Sue!.  He came back in after dark.

June 7, 2010 - As Sue was getting ready for school this morning she glanced out in the back yard and said “There’s a deer out there.”  I looked out and saw a doe standing in the new ferns at the edge of the backyard.  I said to Sue, wouldn’t it be great if she gave birth right there where we could watch?  The doe didn’t look pregnant, so I got out the binoculars to make sure there were no horns sprouting that maybe I was missing with my eye.  Sure enough it was just a nice size doe, not pregnant.

 I was a little curious, so after a few minutes when the doe had walked off behind the “turkey coop” I went out the back door with the binoculars and to a sneak peak around the edge of the garage.  I only took two steps and the doe and I saw each other at the same moment.  I thought I saw a little flicker of white down low in the grass by her.  She took one big leap and then stopped to have a staring match with me.  Finally she snorted and wheezed like crazy and jumped down the bank and into the cedar swamp which was only 20 yards away.  I walked over to the area she had been standing and took a quick glance around.  Tucked away in the wet morning grass with the sun just shinning on it was a tiny little fawn.  It remained motionless and I backed away carefully.  I went back to the house and got Sue so she could look at it too.  Our feet and pant legs were soaked from the wet grass, but it was such a sight to see.  It’s the first fawn I have seen like that in the woods, one so small and new.  We walked back to the house knowing the doe wouldn’t be far off and would eventually come back to the fawn.