Living Rural

We live in a rural area, but not rural enough to not know our neighbors.... in fact we have made a point to be familiar somewhat with who lives in which house, their names, dogs' names, childrens' names, the vehicles they drive, are family members ill or disabled, do they work or are they retired.  It's good to know who belongs on this road and who is a 'danger stranger' person.

Some of us have exchanged cell numbers in order to share 'where the bears have been seen today' information, who's chickens were attacked and how the skunk who attacked them was trapped and gotten rid of.  It all makes for a bit safer existence living here in the country. 

YES, we do realize that the wildlife was here first, but that's not the point here; the point is to keep people as safe as possible (and chickens too) as we live amongst the wild critters, as well as a few dangerous humans, in an ever crowded world.  And it's only going to get more crowded!

All of this past week there have been two bear cubs in one property owner's backyard where a creek runs through.  The mama bear was seen there with them a few days prior, but she has now disappeared and the cubs have stuck around to play all week, never leaving the location except to dump over one neighbor's garbage and also came and bent the pole that one of our humming bird feeders was on and play with the feeder itself. They are a bit like juvenile delinquents of the human sort.  LOL  You know, similar to human teen-agers who enjoy testing the boundaries, only with a lot more hair.

Yesterday the neighbor with the creek had had enough and went out to yell at the cubs, trying to make them leave, but they simply looked at him, shrugged their shoulders and pretty much told him to 'buzz off' and go away.  In other words, they do not fear humans.  Not a good thing.  We are hoping the man will place a phone call for someone to come and remove the cubs to another location further out into the mountains perhaps.  Our neighborhood parents are a bit fearful of letting their children outside to play right now since there is no telling what two very active 1-2 year old bear cubs would do should they come across children.

We await a neighborhood phone call today to get an update on the status of the cubs.

Full Swing In Bear Country

Summer weather is in full swing here in the southwestern area of Virginia.

Hazy, yet blue skies hang above the mountains filled with 98% humidity with afternoons bringing thunderstorms that crop up here and there making us all run indoors in front of our floor fans.... especially the fur covered pups.  They can't be left outdoors for too long or they overheat and pant for what seems to be forever.

I have started to take short walks with my husband during the early hours of the day, taking the pups along.  Our uphill driveway continues to be a source of discomfort for my knees so I park my SUV at the bottom of our driveway so that I can haul myself back home up the drive on our return.  So far this works for me.  

Summertime also means that the bears come out along with their cubs.... MANY bears throughout this area of the country, so my husband made the decision to purchase us each a container of bear spray just in case it should become necessary to defend ourselves. It is a strong spray of capsacin which will not harm the bear, but rather burn it's eyes and throat as it would with a human.....  the shot of spray is good for 30 feet.  If out and about in bear country I recommend this method of safe guarding yourself and there are a number of brands on the market.

Welcome to summer in my world.