This Mama bear and her cubs were on a trail way up on a quiet mountainside as we slowly passed.

I took this at about 30 feet away with my zoom. That's why the originals aren't that great. (Camera shake I supposed too!!!)

Thanks for the visit! Good night all and thanks to anyone who comes here before I get back!

* * * IMPORTANT * * *

On a side note, a large coyote just now killed a cat under my big dark pine tree out front in this past hour or so. Totally dark under that tree it just sounded like a bad cat fight to me. The coyote then went trotting off with the kitty in his mouth! I was mortified to see the cat had been fighting with a large coyote and lost. The screams had all stopped. It all happened so fast that I couldn't do anything.

KEEP YOUR KITTIES INDOORS AT NIGHT! PLEASE!!! This was horrible and that kitty is out there getting eaten right now.

-Laura :(

#8357533

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Hi Jim! Thanks!

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Hi Gord. It was awful. I felt so terrible. That poor kitty! We get BOB CATS at this part of the city now, too, and further south there were bears coming in to the city!!! It's because of all the house developments being built. We are getting falcons (?), too, that are moving in and killing our little birds to protect their big nests. We hear their high pitched shrieks all summer long if we have one in the neighborhood! UGH! The balance of nature isn't mixing with MAN here. I wonder if this is your challenge out there too?

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Terrible hey Courtenay? So sad!

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Hi Ron! Never fear! We were really safe! These were not shot on the same path I shared three days ago! It was the same exact day however. We had just left the backwoods and were in the car driving really slowly leaving the mountain hoping to see more wild life! WE SURE DID! Don't worry you guys! I am BEAR SAFE! We even wear BELLS while walking! :D ... for these shot we stayed very quiet however. They barely noticed us.

These bears were only 20 or more feet away however with nothing inbetween us but good will.

MT KIDD HAS BEARS, TOO! I'll tell you more later! DO NOT WORRY! YOU WILL BE FINE! YOU JUST HAVE TO BE "BEAR SAFE"! June is the month we see them the most.

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Hi Renata! Nice to see you! Thanks for your fun comments!

* * * I AM STILL SHOOK UP ABOUT LAST NIGHT! * * *

Thanks all!!! Very much!

-Laura

#8358605

Just my stream of consciousness. I think sleeping seems a horrible waste of time, so am dying to know how you do it? #8358946

I've enjoyed your comments lots here. They made me laugh and smile...and Michelle, HEY! When your're good you're good. HA!

Actually, I am a night owl, not by nature but I am one now...and I do get a solid 6 hours a night. I sleep VERY well, (unless coyotes have just killed a cat in my yard!!!), and usually feel totally rested when I wake.

AMAZINGLY I still manage to make all the meals, throw all the parties for the family, do all the behind the scenes business here at home, mass mail outs for our business, everyone is wearig clean clothes and I STILL make time for all of you.

My secret is that I never had children. I hear they take up all of that time that I explained above and they even cut into the sleeping hours!(?) :)

Thanks for sharing in on the fun and excitement here with our beautiful Canadian bears, everyone!

Our next installment will be our walk by the Lake. :) We will just leave the bears alone & to themselves now. :)

Shhhhhhh! Tip-toe as you pass them by!

Night night!

-Laura #8359527

The mixed blessing here is that they do see a lot of humans and no one ever tries to hurt them (or they'd go to jail!)...So they dont feel TOO TOO threatened. The BAD side to this is that we are all asked to live together.

They get hungry, come into camp or town, someone calls to complain and the Rangers have to come shoot them. There needs to be a better solution! Dart guns or something. Darts + Relocation?

So at best we wear bells while walking in the woods as not to frighten or surprise them. They do their thing and we do ours, and hopefully there is no trouble. We were in the car while my brother and I shot these pictures. It was very special for us and they didn't seem to mind.

:)

-Laura

#8359867

Our oldest cat heard the whole thing with me and sat there for the longest time afterwards. Watching. He keeps walking back to the window today, too. Waiting to hear more or see more. It affected us.

I picture the kitties body, what's left of it...laying somewhere around here.

:( xoxo

It's been a very sad day here. #8359990

I called the police to tell them and they were very glad I called and then had me call two other numbers. One to report it to Wildlife, fish and game and one for city statistics and charting. I sure got an ear full.

Coyotes, once settled in, become territorial over an area of range. They are brazen and you can even throw rocks at them, scream, bang pots and pans, chase them and they will not fear you! If you are in their territory and are walking your little dog, they won't even focus on you. They focus on the dog! Attack it etc...WITH YOU RIGHT THERE!!! BRAZEN! TOTALLY!

The TV news JUST recently said that small dogs, cats and jackrabbits etc., are disappearing all over the city here because the coyotes are creeping in all around.

They also said this one will surely come back to our house over and over since it found a meal here. You are wise to be overly careful now. They raise their pups to PACK in the same areas, too!

They also told me that the more we kill them off the worse it gets because the species, to survive, will breed younger if we do this and have more litters...making MORE coyotes. So they would rather see them stay in smaller packs, unharmed until they live out their lives being less aggressive with age.

THEY ALSO SUGGESTED WE ALL HAVE PEPPER SPRAY HANDY...Also good to use on bears!

I have many days I'd do over if I could, too, Tommy. We all do. It was healthy of you to realize that the coyote was just doing what came very naturally to him.

So were you. Getting a soda pop is very natural and none of us would have thought one thing of it!!!

By the way...that kitty and other kitties hang out under that same tree of mine to catch mice at night. Likely why that kitty was under there to begin with last night! He was hunting, too. Have you Ever watched a cat eat a mouse? It's pretty brutal. :(

That truly is nature, sad as it seems.

Thanks for sharing. #8360045

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Hi Robert! Hey! WHO KNOWS!!! :)

We took in a kitty who had been on the "road" for 4 years! Survived! CANADIAN WINTERS EVEN! That is amazing really! There is an awesome chance a family took your lost kitty in. We have done that with three kitties. Tried to find their owners and couldn't. We found FANG's owners but he had been gone 4 years (like I said above) and they didn't want him back. (?!) They'd replaced him with two dogs and a cat.

Thanks for the visit, fellas. Nice to see you both.

-Laura #8361992

So fun to have you visiting!!! I'll see you back at YOUR gallery!

-Sis

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