A "Bear" of a tale: my true encounter with a black bear.

It was May of that year and the kids and I went for a visit to grandma's house for the holiday weekend. I only had one of my kids with me by the time I got there as other grandparents had taken the other kids.

We arrived on Sugar Island with no problems and easily settled down for a holiday weekend visit. I had talked with my step dad and I knew that there were bears on the Island. Since the youngest child would not ask to go out and play we decided to put some corn syrup on one of the trees to see if any of the bears would come into the yard. I figured there should be no fear from the safety of the house.

Friday night we did not actually see any bears in the yard. I think I forgot to mention that I brought my city dog with me. She loves to run and she is a black lab mixed dog that we bought from the humane shelter a few years ago. My mom also has a dog. Hers is a Rotweiller. The 2 dogs got along great and you would have thought they were 2 peas in a pod.

Later that night, my step-father came home from work and had let the dogs out loose. I was helping him with stuff on the computer when we heard some barking and yelping. We looked up from the computer only to see that my dog had opened the kitchen door and was now cowering below my feet. We figured she had met up with a bear.

The next day, still no official sign that a bear had been in the yard coming to eat some caro syrup, but we were not yet to be disappointed. My mom went to work and eventually so did my step-dad. My son and I along with the 2 dogs were left at the house on the Island alone for some peace and quiet.

I did not sleep well the night before and it was nap time for my little baby who was to be about 7 months old soon. I had left the big door open and just the screen door was flapping in the wind. The breeze felt nice as it was a warm breeze coming through the house. Ya know, the kind that makes you want to just sleep. So, for about 2 hours, the baby, dogs and I napped in the house.

I had decided that I really did not like being in the house alone so I began to get ready to head into town for dinner. My mom had put laundry out on the line and I knew I would not be back until after it became dark, so I wanted to do the nice thing while the baby was still sleeping and bring the laundry in the house.

I did not think to look outside before going out. There should not be anything out there at this time of day. There can't be anything or the dogs would be making a fuss, as they were still napping near where baby and I was napping. I headed out the screen door and around the corner of the house pondering the thought that my mom would be appreciative of the fact that I brought the laundry in.

Once rounding the corner of the house (about 5 feet) I had my head down looking where I was walking and continued walking about another 4 feet. I still had about another 10 feet until I could touch the clothes on the line.

I do not know what made me look up at that precise moment that I was halfway between the line and the house, but I looked up. There in the shadows under the big picture window was something black. Was it a dog? No, my princess was inside and this was too big to be a dog. That is when the realization hit that 10 feet from me with nothing in between stood a black bear. A full grown black bear that had been foraging for something to eat. My heart started pounding and all I could do was say "Oh Shit, Bear" and run back to the door.

I ran as fast as my feet would carry me back to the house and inside the door. I quickly locked the doors as I did not want the dogs to get out or the bear to come inside. The reason for locking the doors is the fact that the door at that time of the year would not properly latch unless locked. My heart pounding more and my hands shaking.

The dogs now awake from my commotion had no idea what was going on outside. I finally took a few deep breaths and grabbed my digital camera in hopes that I would get some pictures of this black bear that totally scared the daylights out of me.

I peered out the picture glass window and the bear had returned. I snapped a few shots, but must have made too much noise as it finally ran off back into the woods. I took about a half an hour and calmed down more and really realized I did not want to be in that house with my infant alone. So we finished getting ready and we headed back to town.

Now of course that bear had been out there without notice and now I had to get my son to the car and in his carseat without getting caught by a bear. So I peered out the door and quickly ran to the car as I looked around and jumped in the car carrying my child and things I needed like a kid who would jump on their bed afraid of the thing under the bed.

We made it to town and I told my mother about the mishap with the bear. She was all excited and told me she would see me when she got home.

I have been back to my moms a few times and we have yet to see a bear again, but I really do not want to walk up on a bear again. It is really scary and even though I have been tought several things when confronting a bear in the wild ( or even the back yard), your instincts tend to kick in and everything you were taught does not come to mind at all. Your first instinct is to run run run.