OT - Is this guy Cute? I'm not sure...

My husband I came home from grocery shopping the other night to find this guy in our driveway. We sat there watching him for at least 10 minutes.




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He was munching away on acorns. He didn't seem all that bothered by us even. Hubby inched the van down slowly so I could get these pictures. We finally got too close and he ran across the front yard and into the woods behind our house.

I almost feel like we have a pet bear!

He is very cute but only at a distance. Up close he is not cute at all. He looks like trouble to me.

do not feed or try to have contact with him. when they become unafraid of humans and start getting closer, the problems start.

He's cute.

But we humans are trouble for forest folk. When they stop being afraid of us, issues begin. I've made something of a study of wildlife, and I've read of more bears who became habituated, and then attacked, or made nuisances of themselves, in some cases, dangerous nuisances. Then they try to relocate them... which usually doesn't work. After that, the only option is to kill the poor critters.

I'd hate to see that laddy (or lassy) end up that way.

From inside the van he's absolutely adorable! I'm trying to decide if I'm jealous or or maybe not.... Until now I thought the deer in my driveway tonight was as cute as it got.

A lot of guys are only cute at a distance and dangerous when you get too close.

Stormynights wrote:A lot of guys are only cute at a distance and dangerous when you get too close.

Just like Koalas.

Adorable when they are small, but they turn into little monsters. Then there's the Tasmanian Devil.... they even make a sound like the spawn of satan

We live in a rural area so bear sightings are not uncommon. We were a little surprised to see him in the driveway and then NOT run when we pulled up. We do not feed him or his companions because we know there are more - hubby saw a bigger bear a few days before coming up the other side of our house and crossing the street. We keep our garbage inside the garage so it's not out where the animals can get to it.

Do not give him medical care. He will become dependent on it and insist you continue.

Bears raid bird feeders as well; so if you have any, best to not leave them out at night,
and put a drop cloth below to avoid a patch of "bear bait" in your yard.

Madalot wrote:We live in a rural area so bear sightings are not uncommon. We were a little surprised to see him in the driveway and then NOT run when we pulled up. We do not feed him or his companions because we know there are more - hubby saw a bigger bear a few days before coming up the other side of our house and crossing the street. We keep our garbage inside the garage so it's not out where the animals can get to it.

May I ask what state you live in? I can only think of a few where black bears and oak trees would be common.

We occasionally have reports of bears (also moose) wandering through or near town. Some years back, a black bear was seen strolling through the drive up lane at the local bar/liquor store......then walked across the street and climbed up into a tree.
Mule deer frequently come in to our place and clean out the bird feeders. Sometimes I just put some bird feed into a dish on our porch for them to eat from......saves wear and tear on the bird feeders. I have one little buck that's pretty friendly.
I also keep an eye out for the possibility of a mountain lion wandering through the neighborhood......since deer are their primary food.


Thanks,

Den

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We live in Virginia.

Thank you.

Den

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We used to live in north central British Columbia (log house in the bush) and had visiting bears continually. They were usually black bears but we did have a grizzly in the area... he steered clear of us and we steered clear of him . Our favorite camping spot was Bear Lake just north of us...... LOTS of bears there. A brave cougar took a round out of one neighbors large dogs.... not a pretty site as the dog ended up missing a back leg .

While the bear is cute (from a distance naturally) and a bit scary, we have a big problem in recent years with coyotes. We've seen a few close to the house (crossing the street usually) but they are more common by our farm (about 10 minutes from our house). Some people have lost livestock to coyotes. We're always concerned when our calves are real small and there have been coyotes sightings close by. We've been lucky so far.