Just heard that the bears are back in these parts and hungry. So much habitat going to housing developments doesn't leave the wildlife too many places to hunt. :/

We've seen some large tracks in our garden about 2 weeks ago. Not big enough to be a bear, more than likely a big dog? Bigger than a German Shepherd print.
The fenced duck yard is in front of that garden and the sheep to the side.

Sure hope no cougars come around here!!

 

Oh, I enjoyed reading the articles at your website, Ozarkguy.

 

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I'm sure you're right. There's less and less room for the critters, so they're in areas habitated by humans more and more. Will soon have updated photos on the site. The one on the right someone told me might be wolf? and the one on the left is most likely a cat (being large bobcat or lynx or smaller cougar). Also ran across some bear tracks down by the dock (where my dog had been going crazy) and neighbors had seen him feeding on the shoreline the next day. Top that off with my run in with the cougar, and it seems humans and the critters are having "close encounters" more and more.

So glad you like the website. Come back and visit often. Everyone's welcome, as it's about all of us sharing our knowledge and experiences and lifestyles.

Take care, and be careful out there....

Ozarkguy

 

Great website! Got'cha bookmarked!

Peace and smiles,
doohap

 

Bears are what I have been seeing a lot of lately. I saw the first one just over a month ago on my way home, early evening, about 4 miles from home, I came around a corner just as he was coming up over the side of the road out of the draw. He was moving fast, I was doing about 35 when I saw him, he ran up the road between 50 & 100 feet then up the bank on the other side of the road and was gone, I never really caught up to him.

The following weekend we took our daughter to a friends house, about 5 miles past our house, her mom came out and asked if we wanted to see the bear her husband had shot when they caught it killing their chickens. This one was an older bear, its teeth were worn almost flat, and its coat was very gray. She also told us that a bear had ransacked several homes near them, but no one was sure if this was the same bear.

Then week before last my DW & I were heading home on a back road from a friends house, we were about 10 miles from home, when again a bear ran out in the road in front of us, then took off into the trees.

Finally last Friday DW & I were heading home in the late evening going through a fairly populated area about 20 miles from home when DW thought she saw a large dog just off the road then she realized, it had no tail (as it was standing facing away from the road) and that the head was enormous (turned to the side), again a bear.

So four sightings, just a little over a month, and each in a distinctly different area. I know Bears can cover large area, so there is the possibility that my first and third sightings were of the same bear, as the two areas are about 6 miles apart with National Forest separating them, but the other two were different, especially beings that the second was dead when I saw it, and the last one was down closer to the valley.

I thought this was a little unusual, but to hear that the same thing is happening other places really makes me wonder, how long can we push nature before nature has to push back?