You know it is spring when...

[Rosyrain]

It is still a little early to be considered full on spring, but the wildlife are now starting to come out of hibernation. My daugher went to pick up her brother from the bus stop yesterday and they started to make their way home. As they were walking up the hill to the house, my son saw a huge black bear on our front porch!!! The kids ended up having to go to the neighbors house for a little while until the bear moved on, but I guess this is a definate sign that spring is on the way. I wish I had a picture!

The back story behind the bear is that we have always heard rumor that a bear lived in the hills behind our house, but we had never seen it before. It was kind of like an urban legend of sorts until the kids actually saw it yesterday.

 

[ChanellG]

Holy crap! Where do you live??? Did you call some kind of authority/agency to report the sighting? I think I would flip out if a "huge black bear" was on my porch! How long did the kids have to wait for the bear to move on? That's crazy!

 

[Cereus]

Ah good old WA and people wonder why we had such gun friendly laws for a West Coast state. I lived in a small coastal town, nowhere near the mountains but we always had wolves, bears, deer and cougars roaming through my elementary school every other week.

It's also why I keep frowning when transplants from CA try passing stupid laws statewide because Metro Seattle's the only place that doesn't have to deal with roaming wildlife or wilderness. The rest of the state on the other hand does even if you're in a decently sized suburb on the I-5 corridor. Even the Lynnwood area with the huge Alderwood Mall gets wildlife running through there because there's so many forested areas nearby.

Wildlife is an everyday thing in WA because of the climate and region overall. There's so much forested areas that provide a lot of food and stuff so there's lots of apex predators that live comfortably. They'll wander out and about if there's new development or if they're bored.

 

[Pat]

When I see the shows on tv that have people living in the rural areas like you are talking about I wonder how they stay safe from the wild life. I don't think those of us that live in big cities have any idea that wolves and bears are walking around where people live, I didn't. Stay safe.

 

[Rosyrain]

It is not bad as one would think, living near the woods and all. My town butts up against the Snoqualmie Pass, so wildlife is expected, it just does not occur very often. Yesterday the department of wildlife was out setting traps in the woods behind my house. I was secretly wondering what the point of it was because if they get that bear, another will surely move in to take its place eventually.

 

[Cereus]

It is not bad as one would think, living near the woods and all. My town butts up against the Snoqualmie Pass, so wildlife is expected, it just does not occur very often. Yesterday the department of wildlife was out setting traps in the woods behind my house. I was secretly wondering what the point of it was because if they get that bear, another will surely move in to take its place eventually.

Yeah being close to the Pass would definitely put you close to wildlife haha.

They relocate them so they don't get accustomed to humans. Even if another moves into the area it's mainly to discourage them from seeing humans as a comfortable source of food. That's why there's signs that read don't feed the bears because once an apex predator loses its fear of humans then it has no qualms about harming them in the future.

 

[Rosyrain]

Rumor has it that this bear has been in the area for years, so I am sure it has lost at least a little fear of humans. People leave their garbage cans out at night and this does not help the situation. I just learned that bird feeders also attract bears. The wildlife officer told us that there were a bunch of bird feeders out around houses on the other side of the hill. People just need to take the bear signs more seriously because there are kids that go out and play on my community.

 

[Tradewinds]

Oh my, do you have mountain lions as well?

While passing through Georgia, on the way home from Florida, I saw road signs that stated, "No parking, stopping, standing, anytime. I thought it was a rather odd sign until we saw a couple bears foraging on the side of the highway shortly thereafter.

 

[Rosyrain]

Tradewinds- I am sure there are mountain lions in the area, I have just never seen one. I know we have them in this region because I saw a couple with my parents when I was young and camping. It is very strange that you would see that sign on the side of the road in Georgia even if there were bears in the area. It is expected that you will eventually see a bear in my neck of the woods and if we had signs like that, nobody would ever be able to leave their house

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Crocus bloom