Anchor Struck

My visit to Kansas to see my grandson Sean’s high school graduation went extremely well.

I could complain only about the weather, but I won’t.  I actually want the events of the trip

to wander around in my mind a bit before I share them.  I have a more urgent story to tell

you, anyway.

Early Saturday evening, Jude and Slinkee had been up at the micro-hydro site to address a

low-flow problem.  When they got back, hen Hudi, who has become queen of the coop, was

squawking with true insistency.  Jude saw what looked like a man wearing baggy black sweat

pants and a black hoodie standing in the beehives about 20 metres (@20 yards) away.

This concerned Jude, because — as we all know from watching Fox News — hoodies cause

crime.  She called out “Can I help you?” and the “man” turned around.  It was actually a black

bear about 1.83 metres (@ six feet) tall.

Slinkee went nuts and charged toward it, barking furiously.  The bear ignored her, much like

a Borg on Star Trek ignores other species that don’t interfere with his/her task at hand. Even-

tually, though, the bear chose to distance itself from Slinkee’s barking and Jude’s screaming

at Slinkee.  It went into some nearby brush and hung out, ears still visible.

Slinkee followed for awhile, then realized that maybe that wasn’t such a great idea.  She

decided to finally heed Jude’s frantic yelling.  Jude called 911 and was given a number to

call to report the sighting.  The woman she talked to was substantially less than helpful and

even less impressed.

She kept asking “are you rural?”, and was only interested when Jude mentioned the damage

to the beehives.  The woman did take the time, however, to advise Jude to take a deep breath

and put up electric fencing (which is useless, according to research and neighbours).  It’s been

three days since the first sighting, and there’s been no follow-up from RCMP, a conservation

officer or Prime Minister Harper.

The bear came back to the hives.  Jude held Slinkee back, then yelled and banged a garbage

can with a broom handle.  He ran off again.  Jude notified neighbours by e-mail and phone

calls.  Just by chance, our friend Lee dropped by.  The bear returned.  Lee yelled and threw

stones at it.  It grabbed a honeycomb and ran off.

A neighbour who Jude had called came by with his bear dog and a camera.  Lee went home

to get his shotgun, a gift from the recently-deceased Al the Mayor.  When he got back, the

three sat at a picnic table near the hives long enough to hear several bear dog stories — all

with happy endings.

Things quieted down.  Lee taught Jude how to shoot the shotgun, aiming in such a way to

not damage the bear or the solar panels.  He went his way.  Jude set the hive the bear had

knocked over back on its stand.  She came in to eat supper and wait for my nightly call.

When she went back out to put the chickens up, another hive had been knocked over.

She moved our pick-up near the hives.  With Slinkee with her, she stayed in the cab for

three hours with the lights on bright.  She honked the horn for at least a minute every ten

to fifteen minutes.  She also set up a radio on the porch to blast music all night.  What bear

would return to such a noisy place?

Jude went to bed about 2 a.m.  She brought the radio in about 5 a.m., and it started pouring

rain about 7 a.m.  By that time, another hive had been knocked over.

The bear is still around.  Jude has shot the gun twice and chased it with the truck.  When I

got home with my grandson Sean and Jude’s son Nathan, we saw it within an hour.  We

haven’t seen it yet today, but expect to, most likely in the evening.  We hope to get a photo

of it.  Until we do, please enjoy this animal photo I took on my trip.

UPDATE: The bear came back at 5:30 p.m.  Here’s Slinkee greeting him:

Slinkee couldn’t spook it, so Jude charged it with our pick-up.

I’ll try to get closer next time when it comes back.  If I get too close, it was nice knowing you.

UPDATE: 7:30 p.m.  I got much closer this time:

But after I took a few more steps, it fled.

It will certainly return, but — as you can see — it’s getting too dark to get a decent image.

Stay tuned.