The bears

Been getting calls and emails all week about bear sightings in the neighborhood- a mama and twin cubs.  Ruckus with a neighbor's dog on our property, raiding a bird feeder next door, sighting in a back yard across the street right after our kids were playing there.  Small black bear from reports.  Typically dens up on Hazelden property and walks around here as part of her routine territorial circuit every month they're not hibernating from what we hear. 

I had been hoping for mutual avoidance since running into a mama bear in my berry patch or orchard would be bad.  If they are here and we are here and we never see each other, that would be ideal. 

Alas, Tim saw them a month ago.  They walked right by him from our yard across the street to the neighbors' close enough to Tim to get my heart pounding. 

Last year, our next door neighbors out on a walk had to turn around, retreat to a neighbor's, and get a ride home because a single bear stood in the middle of the street and wouldn't move. 

Now that they aren't avoiding interaction as much as the DNR people said they normally would, I'm at a loss for how seriously to take the threat.  Some neighbors love the wildlife and one has been waiting 3 years to see the bear and called happy that she finally has. 

Conversely, the DNR says we can shoot them. 
A.  I don't have a gun. 
B.  If I did have a gun, what are my chances of killing anything on my first shot?  And if I didn't, then I'd have an injured and enraged mother bear running around. 
C.  As a general rule, I don't move in and start shooting the neighbors.  They were here first and we as the new neighbors have a duty to try to get along.

We've been putting the garbage in the garage since that's a favorite draw. 
We don't have bird feeders but it just occurred to me last night that we do have chicken feed around.  (I can be literal sometimes- ask me about egg candling.) 
We'll be tightening security by keeping all the food in the garage and  keeping the garage shut all the time.

I also have a large whistle- a super noisy air horn type whistle which I bought last year on advice from the Bear Center up north.  I felt a little silly about it, a city-slicker greenhorn and her bear whistle.  Yeah, that'll work.  Nevertheless, when Anjali came running in saying three bears had walked by Dad, I grabbed it with shaking hands and hustled out.  When I heard the mama's warning huff from the end of our driveway, and I couldn't see Tim, believe me, I was wishing for something a lot more powerful than a whistle.  I was berating myself for moving to the forest without a gun to protect my own. 

I wish a lot of things.  I wish the bears walked through and we never interacted at all.  I wish I had a reliable dog.  I wish I was as nonchalant as the police and neighbors.  I wish I had a gun, knew how to use it, and never needed to.  I wish I didn't have to worry about my kids.

I wish I felt safe.

I remind myself that I felt the same way when I moved to Minneapolis and I learned how to avoid danger and stay safe there.  I'll feel a lot more sure of myself a year or two from now.

I wish I had it now.