Oh my, last night I had the scare of my life. I came within 2 feet of a big black bear on my front porch (and lived to tell about it)! My sister is here visiting and we heard a pounding noise -- I just thought it was the cats somewhere in the house messing around. But, then heard it again, and it was outside on the deck. I figured it was a raccoon or possum trying to get the bird feeders or cat food for our porch cats so went out on the porch to scare it away. When I went out the front door, the noise came from the far corner and it a loud scrabbling sound. I saw something black so figured it was something messing with the porch cats which are both big black cats. I ran in the cabin to get a flashlight and ran back out onto the porch and just then a BIG black bear came running by me! It was already by me before I even managed to scream (never knew I would have a high-pitched scream when I was scared) and I ran into the cabin yelling BEAR! My sister was already in bed up in the loft and was so scared -- she was running around checking the doors and closing the blinds We were out in the mountains geocaching all day yesterday and she was asking me about bears and I said I hadn't seen one for a couple years, but this is the time we see them if we do!

I only have bird feeders up on the upper deck because any on the lower porch or ground have gotten destroyed by them. But, I never imagined one would get up on the upper porch. It's about 20 or more feet up off the ground. I guess I need to bring ALL feeders in every night.

I'm not sure who was more scared -- me or him but it's going to take me a while to go outside in the dark again!

Are the Porch Cats OK???


Please say yes...

Holy CRUD! Is everyone/thing o.k. now? I think I would have passed out!

Everyone's ok, both me and the porch cats! No sign of my new buddy last night

No pictures?



No I didn't take it, a friend took it a few miles north of me. Bear is on one side of the door and he is on the other.

No pictures -- it didn't quite go through my mind as I saw him running towards me! Here is a picture, though, of a bear that was seen a couple years ago in the neighborhood. One of my neighbors puts a lot of corn out for the deer and this guy made himself at home:

Heatherwood Bear

Wow! Glad to hear yall are ok.

Most likely, I would have required a new pair of pants, but..

I agree with Cymbaline. I would have "wet" my pants.

We saw a black runner snake today but another cacher (RONBO) killed it. My hero!
I actually saw it AFTER it was dead.

Why would somebody kill a black runner snake - pretty sure that's not a poisonous snake.

They're not.

Yeah, Me too..........

Found a black king snake in the hall outside my bath a few months ago.. caught him and took him to the woods across the highway about a quarter mile away.... found a skink in the dining room yesterday..... caught him and took him outside to the woodpile....skink????? not sure about the spelling but a lizard with red gills...can get real worked up looking but harmless... this one was about a foot long .... have seen much larger around here in the shrubbery..... they just catch the bugs and the king snakes chase off the bad snakes so they are safe around here....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tarvol,

Pretty sure black bears aren't partial to man-flesh. Probably wouldn't attack without being backed into a corner or a mamabear w/ cubs.
Saw this little number at a sea-side cache at Jekyll this weekend.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day!

In all fairness, I can understand the thinking behind killing a snake. Before I started caching, I would kill anything that slithered within a mile of me. I now know it was an unwarranted fear of snakes that many of us are brought up to believe. My first GGA 'Snake Meeting' gave me anxiety attacks, but I listened and learned. My second 'Snake Meeting' was the turning point for me. My third meeting was a delight. I learned that all snakes are not bad, but extremely benficial. There aren't very many poisonous snakes here, and if ya just give them a wide berth they will leave you alone. They are just as afraid of you as you are of them.
I do not kill snakes anymore. YAY!
The only ones that scare the bejeezus out of me are the ones that see me first. And I would only kill a poisonous snake if it was in my yard, to protect my kids and pets.

But I understand.

I'm not afraid of snakes! I just plain don't like them.....

quote:

My first GGA 'Snake Meeting' gave me anxiety attacks, but I listened and learned.

Yeah. We had some fun at your expense with that, didn't we?