Blog by guest authors, Peg and Angus!

Our dog, Angus, and I were sitting on the deck one summer afternoon. I was reading and Angus just looking around. Suddenly, I heard a commotion.
Angus got all excited and started barking. It turns out, a bear commotion!

I looked up and there was a big (200-300 lb) black bear climbing the maple tree beside us. About 40 feet away.

Fortunately, Angus was on his run and close to me so I could get hold of him and hurry us both into the house.  He was not a willing participant in this process!  The bear just watched us the entire time.  It took quite a while before my hands stopped shaking enough for me to take pictures.

I think what scared me most is that Angus showed no fear and kept barking at the bear. I wasn’t sure how the bear would react to him but it totally ignored us.  As much as I like to be outside  I was very happy to be in the rest of the afternoon. No more bear commotion for me or Angus.

From safe inside, my husband, Bruce, and I watched the bear as he (just guessing) relaxed on a large limb and munched away.  Eventually he climbed down, lumbered across the yard, found our dwarf apple tree and stopped for dessert of green apples. Eventually he wondered off into the woods.

I love seeing wildlife but he was too close and way too big for me!

Click on the links for other bear encounters in the East. One in Virginia and another in New Hampshire. Of course, in Alaska, bears are common. And troublesome.