# Our Back Yard.....



## Steve (Sep 21, 2012)

Just thought you would like to see what is doing in our back yard..


----------



## SeaBreeze (Sep 21, 2012)

We've had a close encounter with a black bear in Canada, and saw a beautiful grizzly crossing the road from the safety of our truck.  When we go camping, bears are always on my mind.  You need a different mindset to live in an area as wild as where you are, I'd be peeking out the windows a lot before going into my yard for sure, LOL!   They are beautiful animals, and so HUGE when you see them up close, very muscular.  Thanks for sharing that picture, I'll have to show my husband.


----------



## Knightofalbion (Sep 23, 2012)

Amazing! Never seen a bear in the flesh. (Not many bears in Glastonbury!) 

Beautiful creatures... but there is an awful lot of power there that needs to be respected.


----------



## TWHRider (Sep 25, 2012)

That is a calendar-worthy picture.  Just "how back yard" was that handsome face??

I'm not sure I'd be happy meeting him while I was coming off the porch but seeing him at the edge of the woods might be ok - might -  I have horses and two of them are in their mid-20's with arthritis that won't let them move too fast.

I am from a hunting family and comfortable with guns but I could not bring myself to shoot that "sweet looking" face --- I'd have to call the neighbor ----


----------



## Knightofalbion (Sep 25, 2012)

You could always shoot high over his head. He'd take fright, turn and run and probably wouldn't come back...


----------



## Steve (Sep 25, 2012)

Shooting over its head isn't the answer.. If the bear, or any wild animal is a nuisance, then it must go however if it is only here and never comes back, then that's OK..

The bear was in what I call the back 40.. We have a section behind our gardened lawn that is rough and the animals are in that area, however some do wander down to our house area and are curious.. If only that, fine but if it goes further, it must go.. One shot with a 303 usually does the trick...........

What we do is drag the dead animal into the dense woods and let the other animals have a feast..........


----------



## TWHRider (Sep 26, 2012)

Steve said:


> What we do is drag the dead animal into the dense woods and let the other animals have a feast..........



Thankfully we don't have to do that in my area.  We have Turkey Buzzards for that --- they are protected from hunters in my state (Tennesee).  If a cow cashes in and the farmer drags it to the road, to wait on the rendering truck, the Turkey Buzzards generally have it picked pretty clean before the truck gets to our road.

If somebody's dog or cat has gone missing (we also have a lot more Coyotes than we need), the standard answer to "have you seen?"  might be "no, I haven't but I did see the Buzzards gathering over <there> the other day---"

I hope the bear keeps it distance from your home; I understand the necessity of having to pop it.  Even though I've eaten my share of wild game that my family brought home, I never was able to aim anything but a movie camera at game.  I'm an ace shot with a gun --- but I still can't bring myself to pull the trigger on something that regal - lol lol


----------



## Knightofalbion (Sep 28, 2012)

TWHRider said:


> I hope the bear keeps it distance from your home; I understand the necessity of having to pop it. Even though I've eaten my share of wild game that my family brought home, I never was able to aim anything but a movie camera at game. I'm an ace shot with a gun --- but I still can't bring myself to pull the trigger on something that regal - lol lol



Respect to you for that!


----------



## Steve (Sep 30, 2012)

I agree with you that wild animals are regal and should have the right to live their own life their way, however when one of those regal animals start threatening us humans, we take priority over their way of life.....

Some years ago the Ontario government cancelled the spring bear hunt and that gave us folks up north an abundance of Black Bears.. The politicians down south don't realise the problem we have with bears..


Just a quick up-date on our situation...........

A few nights ago, the wolf was heard howling at the moon (I guess it was the moon).. It is still around but has not been seen lately..

The bear has NOT been seen around lately.. 

A shot was heard (from a distance) last week around 2:30 in the afternoon but I have NO idea what it was all about.....


----------



## R. Paradon (Nov 2, 2012)

Beautiful beast!  But I am happy that he is in YOUR BACK YARD and not mine!  I don't think I could handle wild animals like that!


----------



## SifuPhil (Nov 2, 2012)

Here, kitty, kitty!

Steve, although I understand your viewpoint on the need to protect your family from such a threat, as a city-boy I tend to take the more philosophical view that WE are the ones that have invaded THEIR domain. I know it's a simplistic attitude and if I lived in your place I'd probably be the first one to man the .50 calibers, but I just don't see it being fair in the cosmic sense to kill an animal simply because we've intruded on its territory.

... of course, we've done that with MANY species, both animal and human, so overall I shouldn't be surprised ... 

More on-topic, this is what I see when I look out the barred, bullet-resistant window to MY backyard ...



... so I can certainly understand the need to eliminate some pests ...


----------



## R. Paradon (Nov 4, 2012)

Bears and Thugs.  But you guys have not seen the horror of my morning back yard.  The first pic looks serene, but the second shows the vicious predatory birds that I had to face just a few moments ago!


----------



## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2012)

R. Paradon said:


> * scary birds*



What ARE those things??? They look like chickens on steroids! 

And perhaps more importantly, have you hand-trained one yet? Keep a little blindfold on him, like the falconers, then remove it and sic him on someone's German Shepherd?


----------



## R. Paradon (Nov 4, 2012)

SifuPhil said:


> What ARE those things??? They look like chickens on steroids!
> 
> And perhaps more importantly, have you hand-trained one yet? Keep a little blindfold on him, like the falconers, then remove it and sic him on someone's German Shepherd?



They are just free range chickens!


----------



## SifuPhil (Nov 5, 2012)

R. Paradon said:


> They are just free range chickens!



Wow ... I guess I really should get out of the city for a while, because they look more terrifying than any rat I've ever seen. The only chicken _I_ know about comes breaded in a bucket. layful:


----------



## Elzee (Nov 5, 2012)

Whenever my family and I went camping, we were always told to keep our distance from bears. On one of our camping trips, I remember taking our campground garbage to the nearest garbage bin and there was a bear, going through the garbage. I just backed away and went back to my family's campground. My parents took my word that there was a bear going through the garbage. We got rid of our garbage by going to the garbage bin in the opposite direction (no bear there) of where I saw the bear.  

 I live in the city and the only pests that we deal with on our patio are mosquitoes. We just take our insect repellent and that's how deal with our 'backyard' pests. The little pests can be just as 'pesty' as the big pests. But perhaps, that's my attitude from all my city living. 

Steve, your photo of the bear is a great photo - good composition and the bear posed just right for your photo.  Definitely a keeper - that is, for your photo of the bear!


----------



## Elzee (Nov 5, 2012)

I live in an apartment and am grateful to have trees in front of my patio. Under the trees, there are small rocks, as the grass doesn't grow under the trees. I thought it would make an interesting photo - with one of my small pumpkins sitting on the rocks.


----------



## SeaBreeze (Nov 5, 2012)

Excellent photo, thanks for sharing!!


----------



## R. Paradon (Nov 7, 2012)

Cool pics, everybody!  Thanks for sharing!  We are all over the world and it is nice to see things that are not common!


----------

