Yesterday we had a visitor. We are having the heating system installed in the new shop and all of a sudden one of the installers came to the front door a bit pale in color. Seems he was walking to the back corner of the shop where he had been working on the gas line and came face to face with this little guy/gal. From the size what we have here is a two and a half year old black bear that probably just got told by momma, "your on your own bub." Bear's have an interesting way of getting the kids to leave home. It goes like this mom says in a bear kind of way, "Time to make your way in the world." The answer is usually like any child that's been living at home, "But why mom I like it here?" This is where the bear gets it right the first time. Mom smacks junior up side the head and says, "Because if you don't I'm going to kick you ass!" Junior still 200 lbs lighter and already a bit dazed from the first swat decides, "You know mom I see your point."

Unfortunately some of our neighbors don't follow Alaska protocol and leave their bird seed and suet out all year. Junior who has been free loading for the last two years comes looking for the easy pickings. This is where bears get use to people and then use to getting a free meal around people. The end result is a bear habituated to stealing food from homes and people that ends up getting shot by Fish and Game; or worse has a people bear encounter, someone gets hurt, and then the bear gets shot either in a defense situation or by Fish and Game. We are hoping that this little fellow moves on and doesn't hang around the area too long.