{"id":832,"date":"2015-12-10T18:25:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T23:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/?p=832"},"modified":"2015-12-10T20:59:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T01:59:03","slug":"encounter-with-an-american-black-bear-ely-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/encounter-with-an-american-black-bear-ely-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"Encounter with an American Black Bear – Ely, Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a story about a common Minnesota American Black Bear and a person originally from Indiana, me, who used to believe if you got this close to a Black Bear you were a goner.\u00a0 Since I did get very close and I\u2019m still here, my beliefs must have been incorrect.\u00a0 Mid September, 2015 I was dutifully taking out the compost to the base of the hill behind our home as I do on occasion.\u00a0 The occasion being when my wife, Betsy, tells me it\u2019s time. \u00a0She determined that 5:15 PM was about right this evening.\u00a0 Looking up the hill at the back, I saw a Black Bear eating green plants on the hill side not the least concerned about my approach or with my being within 30 feet.\u00a0 The bear just kept slowly moving forward and eating not even looking up. \u00a0As I walked to the back, not knowing he was there, I wasn\u2019t trying to be quite upon approach and was surprised when I saw him. \u00a0He (I\u2019ll explain later why I believe it to be a male.) on the\u00a0other hand couldn\u2019t have cared less about my presence. \u00a0I took out my ubiquitous smart phone and started taking video. \u00a0The video at the bottom of this page starts with a short segment of this cell phone video. \u00a0The video below is a 9:00 minute video condensed from about 1.5 hours of video shot on this first and then a second\u00a0encounter two days later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Two days after the encounter on the hill behind the house, the bear came in about 11:00 AM to feed on bird seed.\u00a0 I heard a crash outside and went out to see the bear munching on a pile of bird seed he had dumped out of one feeder. \u00a0I\u2019d filled the large bird feeder cylinder the evening before, so it was full, and that is the one he took down.\u00a0 No damage to the feeder. \u00a0He is a very gentle bear.\u00a0 After hearing the crash I went outside and slowly approached the bear talking softly to him as I approached. I sat down about 10\u2019 away and began filming.\u00a0 About an hour later I changed positions and sat down for filming about 6\u2019 from the bear at a different angle. After more leisurely feeding he stood up looked around and slowly walked to the other side of the\u00a0backyard for a drink out of our water fountain.\u00a0 The fountain isn\u2019t very sturdy, the top is loosely sitting on it’s pedestal and certainly wouldn\u2019t hold his weight.\u00a0 But, he didn\u2019t knock it over, just stood up lightly balancing with paws on the fountains edge and had a drink. \u00a0He then looked up smelling another nearby bird feeder. \u00a0He started to reach for it and politely got down when I told him rather firmly…NO!\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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He then briefly and nicely posed for some photos and went back to the original feeder to partake of what he had left.\u00a0 Maybe the pickens weren’t good enough now.\u00a0 He stood up and slowly moved toward a number of other seed feeders in that same area, stood up on his hind legs and started to take down another feeder. \u00a0My response was again NO and then a louder No!, and then\u2026.well, you can see the finale in the video, it’s not what I expected!
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A few days later he returned late at night, in the dark, and knocked over one of my neighbors bee hives. \u00a0That caused an even louder crash. \u00a0When I rushed outside to see what could\u00a0have made such a\u00a0commotion he was gone. Even though he continued to come into the yard late at night, he didn’t touch the other bee hive.\u00a0 He continued to come into the yard well into November even after frosts and freezes that I thought would indicate time for hibernation. \u00a0I\u2019ve been told that male bears may not den up until early December long after the females are in their dens.\u00a0 For that reason I\u2019ve called this young polite beautiful Black Bear a he. \u00a0Another thing I learned, the hard way, was that Black Bears WILL feed on thistle in thistle feeders. \u00a0I thought taking in all the other feeders would be sufficient, but not so. \u00a0We have bear teeth prints in what was a new mesh thistle feeder. \u00a0And, the bear polished off about 2 lbs. of thistle. \u00a0From now on ALL bird feeders will be put up early Fall on Boundary St. in Ely.
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