It is the time of year when apples begin to ripen and bears come down for the harvest. Notices appear in the paper reminding us to pick up our fallen apples, nothing attracts a bear like the sweet smell of a fermenting apple. Wildlife officers, otherwise known as the apple patrol, leave stern notes on your door if they spot an apple strewn yard.
We checked our trees before leaving on the boat for five days. Nothing ready to pick. Our first night we stern tied about 20ft from shore. At dusk we observed this young bear calmly picking berries directly behind us.
We returned home to find,
shock and horror,
the Cox's Orange Pippin picked clean.
I was hopping mad.
We could tell they had gone into the other part of the orchard (poop) but hadn't taken anything. Bears will wait until the apples are ripe, coming back to check until they are to their liking. I think they knew I was guarding the COPs and took their chance because they certainly weren't ripe. Maybe they got a stomach ache. Only my kind heart hopes not as my husband saw a momma bear and her baby come out of a neighbour's property later the same night. I wouldn't want the baby to suffer because of his momma's greed. Or maybe she was teaching him a, "this is what will happen to you if you eat sour apples", lesson.
Note for my dear friend PC. We are fine, we are not going to get eaten. Well, I hope not. PC has been incredibly supportive, not like the "you must be mad" group. She knows I need to be here. I try not to make her anxious but I may have failed this time.
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We've been very lucky at the cabin. We do have bears in the area, but none have ventured out near our granite cliff location. No fruit or berries on shore, so I am sure that helps keep them to other parts of the woods with better foraging. Keeping my fingers crossed!- Margy
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty to entice them around here.
DeleteWe do not have bears in the wild at all in our country, so this was very interesting to read. I think it is very exciting but I understand it is not fun bears stealing your fruit.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the U.K., no bears there either so this is all new for me.
DeleteSo sorry about your apples. I don't have apples, nor do I have roaming bears. But I have figs and squirrels. Those cute little rodents for who I happily supply with peanuts devours my figs just as they ripen:( I feel your pain. Hugs. Bonnie
ReplyDeleteI love fresh figs.
DeleteOh what a shame to lose your crop and to bears of all things. The only pest I have at the moment is hoardes of wasps devasting all the fruit on my apple tree.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to see a wasp here which is a good thing as I'm very sensitive to their venom.
DeleteOh those devils....my husband would love to see the bears but not me. Too unpredictable. We do not usually see bears as they stay further N in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteI really don't want to see one. I'm not going out after dark.
DeleteWe have small black bears down here, but they stay away from our apples because of the dog and the fence. Our neighbours aren't so lucky, and regularly have their garbage rifled and apple trees pillaged. BIG sympathy regarding your COP apples!!
ReplyDeleteWe will probably get a dof now we are settled. I'm also looking for some geese. I'm told they do a good job of discouraging predators.
DeleteWe don't have anything nearly as exciting as bears...but man, the deer eat everything in sight!! Come on over and I'll share our apples with you. They're in the fenced area with the dog and so they're ours. =)
ReplyDeleteA dog seems to be the answer. One day perhaps we can share a cup of coffee/tea.
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