Most folks know this season as spring, up here we have many more than just the four seasons and they tend to cross over. Right now it is tiny tick season, bear season, (can’t put the trash out early any more), the awakening of Asian lady beetle season and turtle season. I have had several tiny ticks attached already. I came back from a walk with the dog and pulled nearly 15 off him. Course they don’t attach because we medicate the dog. That just means they leave him and go after me.
Found some huge bear tracks out on the road. The front paw was six inches across, and the back foot was as long as mine. The one we had in the yard was smaller maybe only 400 pounds. Usually big bears are not an issue, they tend to be ladies and gentlemen, but little ones and mommas can be a little disconcerting. Amazing how Disneyesque bears look from inside the house sitting on your couch. Not so much when you are face to face with them. And the advice that tells you to wave your arms and look big telling them to go away, in my experience doesn’t work. Maybe the trembling voice had something to do with it.
The Asian lady beetles hibernate in the walls of the pole barn. These warm days wake the nasty little things up. The window in my shop is constantly covered. I vacuum them up with a little hand vac, take them out and step on them. If you have never encountered them, you should know they stink when crushed and they bite. I kind of hate them.
Those are the challenging seasons right now. We stay for the good parts, amazing colors of green, the grouse drumming, the birds stopping by on their way north. The most common birds we see are the confusing spring warblers. They are very different from the confusing fall warblers. The air is fresh clean and new, hope abounds.
May all your bears be ladies and gentlemen.
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