You’d think after 17 years in the Foothills, I would have the quirks of the local wildlife all figured out.
But no—I still get flummoxed by critters around here, and a lot more often than I’d like!
One month ago, in “Garden Explosion,” I wrote about our recent raccoon incursion. I mean, I was sure it had to be a raccoon. This animal had climbed our blueberry patch fence, and torn apart a small, decomposing stump between 2 large berry shrubs to get at the ants living inside.
While this critter had bent the fence a bit, both blueberry plants were completely unharmed. Not a branch was bent, not a leaf fell to the ground, and nary a twig was tweaked.
At the time, what I didn’t take into account was a big stripe of bark torn off a nearby apple trees.
Anyway, the other day, when my husband John and I found this animal in my spinach patch, the raccoon theory flew out the window:
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| Black bear in our yard! |
Bears are the critters who love ants. And bears commonly tear bark off fruit trees to get at the sap!
It had to be this small black bear that wrecked the stump, and damaged the apple tree a couple of weeks ago. I was sure of it, when I saw how this critter had also stomped all over my strawberry bed, and how well it knew its way around the yard!
There’s a lot more to this bear story, and you’ll find it in my June newsletter! It’s free to read and open to all, so I hope you’ll take a look.
In any event, this is not the first time I’ve mistaken wildlife, and I’m sure it won’t be the last!
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