Reflections on the Third Week of Spring

 

Animals know it's spring. Searching for nesting spots, a robin and a phoebe checked the ends of house logs. A critter had nested in a hole under the deck. Not wanting an animal that close to his salad bed, Spence baited the Havahart trap with almond butter toast. Thursday morning a large female raccoon crouched in the cage. Hoping she'd stay in the area to eat yellow jackets, Spence hefted the cage into the tractor bucket and drove her to the flood plain. He opened the trap. She raced towards the creek and disappeared behind a sand mound. He rode back uphill and filled in the hole. But, Spence didn't dislodge Friday's visitor. At 5:30, noise on the deck woke him. He thought it might be the wind, but George's flicked back ears and at-attention fur convinced Spence to look. He turned on deck and porch lights. Nothing. He made coffee. The noise continued. Spence glanced out the sliding glass door. Behind the jade plant, a dark shadow rose. A bear standing on hind legs inspected the empty sunflower seed feeder. George crouched as low as cat-possible. Back on all fours, the bear sniffed the pile of seed shells. Then it padded to the porch, stepped over Spence's open umbrella, paced to the gate, and walked back to the deck. A half hour later, the bear left. In vain, George begged to go outside. We know bears wake up hungry in spring.