Bears and garlic

It's been a bit hectic here. A week ago last Saturday the hungry bears made a bid to feast on chicken feed and continued to hound us through the middle of the week. That feast included the chickens themselves. Once again we'll be a little short of layers than I'd like. It's not quite the devastation of the crazy dog killing 19 that was the last blow thankfully. We've been here since 1991 and I'd venture the bears have never been hungrier. With the lush forest one might think that food would be plentiful, but that's not the case. I believe the ants struggle to find dry ground to multiply in the wet and ant hills seem to be popular with the local black bear population when food is scarce.





The vegetation is often flush with water in the spring and very thin on nutrients and food value of any kind. This year the vegetation is floating. The ground is so soft just now that the wide tires of the riding mower are leaving tracks in the yard. Apparently it was a little slick where the truck was parked too.





I didn't get any images of our black visitors, but neither did I end up with a bear skin rug. Both are regrettable. It's interesting how my views on living with wildlife have changed since coming here. I'm much more willing to defend myself against the wild pressures now and completely guilt free too. Whether it be mosquitoes or larger life forms the pressure is significant here and that's the way I like it. I wonder how many ecosystems are affected by the spraying for mosquitoes in the city? How many birds die each year due to spraying?

I've repeated this next bit many times and it likely won't be the last. Bite me. I'm not a fence sitter and you all know it.
I'll likely never forget the evening years ago, enjoying a leisurely after dinner conversation with Pierrette one fine summer in Montreal. The music was wonderful and the windows of the restaurant were wide open. There were no bugs attracted to the street lights. There were no birds to enliven the day. I'll take the bugs every time. Like the prairie cold, I cope well enough and it keeps lotus land at bay. In fact, I was surprised to find I could get both double rows of garlic trimmed of their flowers without the help of insecticide. Maybe the growing swallow population is helping.