Bear Country

Last week Jen, Forrest and I were chilling by the fireplace, watching a movie and playing on our laptops, much like any other night. The snow was just starting to fall and the wind was picking up. It started gusting and shaking the house (we have no insulation), and Jen started to freak out a little bit because she thought she saw something through the window.

"It's just the wind," I said confidently.

"Actually, no. There is a bear on our porch." She said matter-of-factly. Then she realized what she said, and freaked out even more.

Forrest, the burly lumberjack that he is, rushed to the door and opened it a crack while roaring at the bear. I didn't actually get to see the furry beast, but they both said it was a fully-grown brown bear. I thought that maybe they were trying to pull a fast one over on me, but the next morning's trash can proved otherwise!



So, the bears are waking up apparently! Ichi is in a perpetual state of shock when he is outside;

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



He pretty much follows me around anywhere I go when I'm outside and close to the house. He freaks out though, and hops up trees and up onto cars to get a good vantage point in case the bears try a sneak-attack. The bears struck again last night, and our non-bear-proofed garbage was strewn all about when I left this morning. I cleaned up the last bear attack, and I was late for work, so it was somebody else's turn. I got home from work and cleaned up what was left of the mess (thanks to Kristara for cleaning up the rest!). Ichi and I then walked around a bit and I had to snap this picture of our soon-to-be neighbor's house:



It is almost a mirror image of the place I'm staying in. Hah! I wish, ours is about a third of the size, we have no heat, and we're out of firewood. We are easy pickings for the bears. Wish me and Ichi luck in the next few weeks~