The bear essentials

Posted by Alaskology

Posted: June 15, 2008 - 9:57 pm

When we came home Saturday afternoon, this black bear was waiting for us in the front yard. After we managed to get in the house he hung around for a bit. We snapped this picture from the windows in Gina's studio.Alaska is an amazing and wonderful place. It seems like every day we get another proof.

Never was that more true than Saturday afternoon. Gina and I had appointments all morning and through mid-afternoon. When we pulled back in the driveway about 4, sitting alongside our driveway was an adult black bear.

He didn't seem to mind that we pulled in, and we waited in a car for a few minutes. Eventually, he moved into the backyard and we sprinted for the house. Once inside, we felt comfortable watching him move around the house and sniff at stuff. Obviously, he was looking for something to snack on.

He went from the backyard to the front yard and back. He sat down, he scratched, he took a brief nap, he looked up at us through the windows into Gina’s studio. It was difficult to picture him as anything but adorable. (Of course, in a different set of circumstances he could have been quite aggressive.)

Another photo of the black bear in our front yard. When you live in Alaska -- even in Anchorage -- you never know when wildlife will just appear.

After 30 minutes or so, he moved off past the garage down into the backyard and off into the woods.

We've seen bears two other times in our yard, but never did one become such a spectacle. Some people wouldn’t be so excited to have a bear call their yard home –- even for just half an hour –- but I thought it was one of the coolest things we’ve experienced since we moved to Alaska.

Anchorage's self-proclaimed theme is "Big Wild Life." We certainly experienced that on Saturday.

-- Steve

Monday night update: About 10 tonight, our bear showed up again, walking across the driveway. This time he settled in for what appeared to be an evening nap in the neighbor's compost pile. I suppose if I were a bear, I'd think compost would make a pretty good bed too.

After walking around the yard a bit, our visiting bear decided the wooded area between our house and neighbor's would be a good place to settle down for a nap.

After 30 minutes or so, the black bear decided to move off. Here, he darts around the corner of the garage before heading down into the woods.

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