“Curt,” Peggy called, “come here quick! There is something small moving through the grass.”
I hurried over to the window. You never know what new animal, bird, snake, lizard, etc. is going to drop by for a visit. This time it turned out to be a fawn, probably on its first venture out from wherever it had been hidden by mom. The doe had just jumped over our fence, leaving her baby behind. Peggy’s mother-instincts kicked in. No need, the fawn easily crawled through the fence.
Peggy started snapping photos. So did I but my camera was beeping at me. I’d forgotten to put the memory card back in after downloading photos. Oh well, Peggy took enough for both of us. It was our first fawn of the season.
And now for the bear.
Peggy and I came out of a deep sleep at 2:30 am yesterday. Something was crashing around outside our bedroom window. “Bear!” we simultaneously exclaimed! Our neighbor Bryan had texted us on Wednesday to tell us that a large, black bear had rummaged through his garbage the night before. Apparently, it was our turn!
I jumped out of bed without getting dressed, grabbed our heavy duty Mag-lite and made a dash for our patio door. Bears can do a lot of damage in a short time. I threw the door open. Nothing. Our garbage can was my next thought. I had spotted fresh claw marks on it a couple of weeks earlier. I ran though the kitchen and threw open the back door. Again, nothing.
Then I heard a crash on our porch. Damn, the bear is going for the grill, I thought, and went charging through the kitchen, dining room and library. We had already had one Weber grill tipped over and damaged by a bear. I didn’t want to see it happen again. I threw open my third door of the night, this time shining my light on the grill. It, too, seemed fine. Then I noticed that the bird feeder was swinging back and forth and been turned into a crooked parody of itself. The bear had been playing tether ball with it! I pointed my flashlight up our driveway to see if the bear had taken off. He hadn’t.
He was standing 30 feet away staring at me. And he was big, as in BIG. I had only seen one that was larger, and given that it was standing on its hind legs with its feet and claws raised above its head growling at me, I may have exaggerated its size.
“What are you staring at Bear?” I asked. “Haven’t you ever seen a naked man before?” And then I yelled. He leisurely turned around and ambled off up our road. I prefer that my bears run.
I’m sorry I don’t have any photos for you. My mind was a bit preoccupied. He really was a magnificent creature. I suspect we will have more opportunities for photo ops. But here are three pictures for perspective. I’ll close with a final ‘cute shot of mom and baby.
NEXT POST: I’m assuming it will be on the fabulous market in Barcelona unless the bear comes back or more fawns show up. (Grin)
Wandering through Time and Place 
I simply just adore those pictures of those deer; they’re so beautiful to me!
They are beautiful creatures, Elleen. And fascinating to watch. Thanks for commenting. –Curt
Ah, the pleasures – and irritations — of living in paradise.
Small irritations; big pleasures, Ray.
Oh tiny deer, what a captivating big bear 🐻 story! The traces left behind are absolutely amazing, don’t want to get caught in those sharp claws. How often does this happen? Do you have any weapon close to hand in case an accident happens?
We have no bears in Norfolk, but I know the brown bears are a threat some places in Norway.
I’ve spent much of my life dealing with bears, Dina including the big brown bears of Katmai and Kodiak. Once I was stalked by a grizzly on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. And once I woke up with a black bear standing on me in the Sierra’s of California. 🙂 They are big and worrisome but not terribly aggressive unless they have babies or you surprise them. So far I’ve survived. (grin) Being smart and being careful are the best defense. –Curt
👍🏻😊 stay safe!
I’m practicing social distancing with bears, Dina! 🙂
👍🏻😂
Ups, I got so caught up in the bear 🐾🐾adventure that I forgot to say how wonderful the photo story of the deer and the fawn is❣️😀
Laughing. Bear adventures do tend to be captivating, Dina. But you can’t beat fawns for pure cute. Although most babies can pull that off. 🙂 –Thanks. Curt
😍
That is one tiny fawn. How lucky to have the deer visitors. (Mom was probably miffed – just wanted a minute to herself – a minute. Cute pictures.
“Going for the grill” got such a laugh at the image…easy to see how cartoon creatures get their ideas – teether ball play with a bird feeder. They are clown…from a really safe distant viewing place. Enjoy the wilds …carefully.
Fun post
Thanks, Phil. And the image of Mom being miffed was perfect. Here she had her kid trained to stay home and hide while she went about her daily business. Now the baby will be with her all of the time, and, from our experience of watching fawns, wanting too eat all of the time.
Bears can be funny, true, just doing what bears do. And they are always funnier from a decent distance. I’m glad they aren’t into eating people… as a general rule. 🙂 –Curt
Now this is a tale, or tail, of two very different animal experiences. The fawn is exceptionally sweet and I love the narrative you included of what Mama deer is thinking. Bravo to Peggy for those photos.
As to standing naked in front of a massive bear with claws that could turn you into sushi, you are far braver than I sir! What a fright, even reading it. Hoping you don’t have a return encounter, from the bear that is.
The fawns are always a major treat for us, Sue. Each year we look forward to their visits. As for the bear, he is part of our reality around here, although I am a little surprises about his love for birdseed. 🙂
I will note for my visit with the bear, the door was open and one foot behind me. (grin) And, I would have preferred to be clothed. But had I been, my bird feeder would have been beyond repair. A neighbor who is seriously into feeding birds with several feeders, lost all of them. I would warn the bear, however, that the neighbor is a policeman with little sense of humor for miscreants! –Curt
From extreme to the other on your property, eh, Curt? It’s a good thing Peggy has the calm sense to grab the camera!
Laughing, G. Except she hid out in the bedroom under her covers until I chased the bear away. 🙂
That’s not good. If you had gotten mauled by the bear – she could have at least gotten a video for us!! 😏
Knowing Peggy, she would have attacked the bear, G. 🙂
hahaha
🙂
Always exciting to have an early morning visitor. Glad the damage was minimal. The deer and fawn are gorgeous.
Indeed, Peggy. 🙂 And I do prefer the four legged type. Another deer (Floppy) showed up with twins today! –Curt
Gutsy move with the bear…
Last night as the evening light faded, my husband called me to look at something lying down beyond our fence – maybe 50 feet away. “Really big ears” he said. “More like a mule deer than a white tail.” Then he paused. “More like a moose, really.” Too dark for binoculars to be of much use, but my Canon with the zoom lens is fairly good in low light. Yes, it was a moose and when it got up, two baby moose too! Sure hope they come back during the day. Would love to have photos like the ones you have of the deer!
Oh I hope so too, Mary! I remember baby moose from when I lived in Alaska. So ungainly they had to be cute! Don’t want to get around mom when she has them, however! Thanks. –Curt
I’ve also had the experience of bears ambling away – after a gun was fired into the air. There was a pair of them, unusually a black and a grizzly travelling together. They cared not one whit for the gun shot. Tell Peggy thanks for the deer and fawn shots. So cute. Envious! Ah but we did get to watch a hummer flit around a vase of flowers for several minutes last night.
Alison
A black bear and a grizzly traveling together, how very strange. Loud bangs usually send them scurrying. Grin. Me too. I’ve put out a night camera now. Hopefully, I will get some shots of the big black bear, Alison. I’ll pass your thanks on to Peggy. Smiling about the hummer. –Curt
Beautiful pictures and description of the innocent little fawn. And then catching up with dear mom Doe. For me such wildlife is now only a dream though as a youngster I’ve enjoyed the flora and fauna in our beautiful Indian forests on outings with my dad. Thanks Thanks Curt you made my day 🙂
And thanks for your words, Dilip. Nature is always front and center here. I can’t look out our windows without seeing some bird or animal going about its daily business, sometimes funny, always interesting. –Curt
Nice blog
Thanks, Saania.
Given the choice between cute and chaotic, I tend to prefer cute — although a little chaos in the night does make for a great story. That fawn is so small it reminded me of the dik-diks in Africa; there’s something about small/baby animals that really can tug at the heart strings.
Now, those claw marks are a different matter. If your friend boogies back into the area, maybe you could show him this to distract him. I have to have shared the video with you before, given all your bear posts, but I’m glad you reminded me of it again.
That’s quite the bear video. Had me laughing for sure! I’ve never seen a bear scratch itself on a tree but I’ve certainly found scratching trees. You can tell them by the hair in the bark!
The fawn is the smallest we have ever seen. Haven’t seen it again but Floppy has finally brought her twins by. Also incredibly cute.
I now have a night camera and will hopefully get some shots of Mr. Bear. He is quite fond of the deer block. I’m now putting it away at night as well as our bird feeder and garbage can! He still shows up at the block area though. –Curt
Oh, dear! 🙂 Beary happy to hear you scared off the big fella. Loved the story and photos of the tiny fawn! Be careful out there. We just had a beautiful honey-colored bear trot past our front door, through the carport and over the fence at 10:00 a.m. the other day. He was on a mission to somewhere. So cool to see!
Bears at the Lake are usually on their way to visit someone’s garbage can. And sometimes a cabin, if I recall correctly, Kelly. 🙂 And we are beary careful! That was one cute fawn. Our regular doe, Floppy, has now shown up with there twins. 🙂 I’ve put up a night camera to see if I can’t catch some photos of the bear. –Curt
Think we’d have preferred it if you’d said ‘And now for the beer’. It might be nice to see a pic but no humans must be hurt in the making of them 😉
No humans or bears, etc.! I’ve now set up a night camera. You may get to see him yet! 🙂
Look forward to it. We set one up to catch wild boars but never had any luck. Will have to try again as they’re tearing up the land at the moment 😉
As soon as we set it up, the bear stopped coming. Grin. Good luck with your boars! –Curt
A pleasant read during these troubled times.
Glad you enjoyed it, Beth. I try to keep it light most of the time now but do get serious on occasion. Thanks. –Curt
A pleasant read during these troubled times.
I’ll take deer, please, and no bear! You are much calmer than I would be about that big guy!
Comes from 50 years of meeting bears out in the woods, Lexi, and living to tell about it. 🙂 He was/is a big guy, however. I stayed close to my open door. –Curt
What an adorable fawn and yikes! I’d like to see a bear again, but at that proximity….YIKES!
(My kids enjoyed your fawn pictures, too, by the way! 🙂 Thanks from them!)
Glad they enjoyed them, Anne. Tell them I said thanks back. –Curt
That fawn’s a cutie. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a wild one, much less “first of the season.”
Regarding your second visitor, I have to wonder, which of you was more bare?