Love the bear picture and all nature has to offer, sorry it brought out the sad stories. Nature is beautiful. One day we will miss it. That's why we have Discovery channels too. Happy quilting everyone.

Really, in this corner of the U.S.A., bears were extirpated early in the 20th century--going the way of the elk, bison, wolves, white tailed deer, puma, wild turkey and other species. Black bears were restocked successfully in Pennsylvania and the population has spread into neighboring Maryland and West Virginia. Game reintroduction efforts in West Virginia in the 1930s resulted in the return of species such as raccoon and deer in areas where they had been hunted to extinction. Turkey reintroduction has also been successful.

In our mountain regions, a century ago, there were numerous family farms and small settlements, logging and mining and railroads. Many of these have reverted to woodland appropriate to wildlife. The popularity of building homes/vacation homes in rural areas is bringing back the old clashes between human and animal needs. Whitetail deer have multiplied and moved into urban areas where their control is becoming a major problem.
They may also overbrowse and destroy woodland habitats if there is insufficient hunting as there are few natural preditors.

A black bear in the wild is a gorgeous creature with a velvet coat, unlike his sad-looking dusty caged brother.

What a wonderful story you shared. Thank you. We have game reserves here too for protecting wildlife until they can go back to a place where they can survive. We have a friend who lives in Kenai Alaska and he sees the bears across from where they live and fish, both respect each other. The pictures they send us. WOw. Even driving thru AL they see them off the roads. I am always amazed they get the pictures they do. Love Mother nature's animals. Ok wouldn't want to be up close and personal but love to see them.

we had one last week and we are nowhere near a rural area. this one came from a small swamp call 'dismal swamp', a reserve.
the first thing he did was go to sleep in a tree. then he went home. the next day he visited another urban community and went to sleep before going home. third day, same thing. now he has a name: #6131. the agents are thinking he's looking for a mate. good luck finding one. there are people here who can't find one, either.

Aren't telephoto lenses on cameras wonderful. Makes you feel like you're up close and personal even when you aren't. Some of them make you feel like you could pick the fleas off the dog when you're no where near. :-)

LOL without being up close and personal.

We have a bear(s) that love to rip the siding off of our cabin every year. We see them often and have just learned to live with them. The ones that are used to people are actually less dangerous because they will most likely ignore you whereas the bears that are not used to humans will get startled by them and attack out of fear. Bears are all over garbage dumps and no one has been attacked on a dump.

If its between YOU and a BEAR, guess who wins?

Depends on what I have in my paws.

Greenheron, thank you so very much for the story ! :thumbup:

I would have been so excited to see a bear in my back yard! Of course, at a distance! I'm sure when you fed the deer, you never expected to see a black bear:) All we get are the occasional possum, and that's pretty rare.
Thanks for sharing the picture-

We had one in the basement about 5 months ago, in an old piece of duct DH hadn't removed yet.
Drove Gracie crazy hearing something under the floor by her bed in the living room . LOL

Would me, too!
Years ago my son thought a possum was a giant rat on the fence - freaked him out!

My favorite picture is the second one. The one where he is leaving, I am terrified of bears. They are grand creatures but too scary for me. Thank you for sharing the pics though.

Cool pictures!! Thanks for sharing.