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We were packing up the car in the now almost dark driveway when I hear this little high-pitched tick tick tick off to the left, I look up and a little bat zaps overhead, zig-zagging past and into the trees.
Now, I love bats. They are just so cool... I mean, they're mammals that fly. How cool is that? The fact that they eat mosquitoes only adds to their status as important things to have around.
So Myr and I hung outside for a little while longer watching the bat as it flitted around the sky. Turns out we have two bats. Sometimes they flew so close to us that I swear we could have reached up and touched them as they flew over.
While on the subject of wildlife, the turkeys are again invading my parents house. Well, they aren't being too destructive. And the when the hen brings around her ten little fluffs of fuzz that are her chicks this time of year, they are adorable. We managed to keep them off the corn patch while they could have done damage (they like to roll in the dirt and dig up the seed), so now they can go in and eat all the bugs they want.
On the other hand, the large black bear that is making himself at home in my folks front yard. This is a fairly large bear -- 250 to 300 lbs -- and he's developed a fondness for the suet and bird feed that they put out. He also likes to sit down and stare at you when you try to scare him off. I saw him about two miles south of their place (which makes him only three miles outside the city limits, too) when I drove Myr out there one morning. We're hoping that he decides to spend his time in someone else's yard. I won't be surprised if he ends up in town.
It amuses me that people say "Well what do you expect when you build where they live?" First of all, when my folks built out there nearly forty years ago, there wasn't any bear there. The re-population of black bears (along with the wolves and eagles) is a relatively new thing. Second of all, the whole stupid town is built in bear habitat. Do people honestly think that the bear is going to stop at the city limits sign and say "Oh, look, the people have staked this out, guess I'll have to go back?"
Of course, unlike the wolves and eagles (both of which I have seen lately), bear can be dangerous. Of course, with the larger number of bear around here, there is more of a chance that they'll increase the number of bear permits, so a large number of bear can be dangerous thing for the bear, too. No one in my family wants to go bear hunting. We don't care for bear meat and a bear rug is really not as cool as a lot of people think.
We all want the big lug to stay in the woods and show a little common courtesy and go away when people shout at him. And he could stay away from the big highway, too, because in a car/bear match-up there will be no winners.
Now, I love bats. They are just so cool... I mean, they're mammals that fly. How cool is that? The fact that they eat mosquitoes only adds to their status as important things to have around.
So Myr and I hung outside for a little while longer watching the bat as it flitted around the sky. Turns out we have two bats. Sometimes they flew so close to us that I swear we could have reached up and touched them as they flew over.
While on the subject of wildlife, the turkeys are again invading my parents house. Well, they aren't being too destructive. And the when the hen brings around her ten little fluffs of fuzz that are her chicks this time of year, they are adorable. We managed to keep them off the corn patch while they could have done damage (they like to roll in the dirt and dig up the seed), so now they can go in and eat all the bugs they want.
On the other hand, the large black bear that is making himself at home in my folks front yard. This is a fairly large bear -- 250 to 300 lbs -- and he's developed a fondness for the suet and bird feed that they put out. He also likes to sit down and stare at you when you try to scare him off. I saw him about two miles south of their place (which makes him only three miles outside the city limits, too) when I drove Myr out there one morning. We're hoping that he decides to spend his time in someone else's yard. I won't be surprised if he ends up in town.
It amuses me that people say "Well what do you expect when you build where they live?" First of all, when my folks built out there nearly forty years ago, there wasn't any bear there. The re-population of black bears (along with the wolves and eagles) is a relatively new thing. Second of all, the whole stupid town is built in bear habitat. Do people honestly think that the bear is going to stop at the city limits sign and say "Oh, look, the people have staked this out, guess I'll have to go back?"
Of course, unlike the wolves and eagles (both of which I have seen lately), bear can be dangerous. Of course, with the larger number of bear around here, there is more of a chance that they'll increase the number of bear permits, so a large number of bear can be dangerous thing for the bear, too. No one in my family wants to go bear hunting. We don't care for bear meat and a bear rug is really not as cool as a lot of people think.
We all want the big lug to stay in the woods and show a little common courtesy and go away when people shout at him. And he could stay away from the big highway, too, because in a car/bear match-up there will be no winners.
