There's a bear out there!

[Miss Cellaneous]

The company I work for has a campus set about half a mile back from the street, nestled in the woods.

Today there is a bear cub down by the small lake between the two office buildings and we are now all on semi-lock down until the state wildlife people can get here. The fear is that there is an adult bear somewhere near. It's probably a black bear, and probably looking for a place to settle down for the winter.

Word is that the cub and the adult, if located, will be sedated and moved to a less populated area.

And we had what we think was a red-tailed hawk out on the window ledge this morning.

I live and work in the same city. This is a reminder to me that nature really is all around us, even in the midst of concrete and parking lots.

[Teacher Terry]

Yes I bet the mom is lurking. We have lots of hawks and I have to be careful with my small dogs.

[lmerullo]

Let us know if there is a mamma!

We have small dogs too, TT, and I swear one hawk would watch for my old gal to be out alone! She's passed, and the other two weren't viewed as prospects by the hawk but I now have another smaller baby and the hawk is back.

[Float On]

The black bear used to come in my back yard when I had chickens. Haven't seen bears in several years now. Once we went out and chased what we thought was a raccoon and turned out to be mama bear and cub.

[Teacher Terry]

Coyotes have also come into town. Right now I have a big dog too so don’t think a coyote would come into our yard. That will change once the old guy is gone. Thankfully we don’t have a ton of swooping room because we have 3 big trees. I go out with the dogs regardless.

[oldhat]

In the past year in the very densely populated suburban area where I work, I've seen many deer, wild turkeys and a coyote. All these were unknown in this area when I was growing up--they've been squeezed out of their habitats by suburban sprawl.

Hawks and wading shorebirds have made a huge comeback. We never saw these when I was a kid.

No bears, though.

[Miss Cellaneous]

Well, after cruising around a bit and climbing a few trees, the bear took off just as the Wildlife crew arrived. An employee had taken some pictures of the bear and the Wildlife people recognized him. They have a feel for where he is headed and are keeping an eye out for him. Hopefully, he will go into hibernation soon, and our usual lunchtime walks can resume.

Our department keeps a checklist of animals and birds we spot around the office. Foxes, coyotes, squirrels, chipmunks, turtles, otters, deer, seagulls, several kinds of hawks, a whole bunch of robins, numerous other birds, raccoons, turkeys (a lot of them this year), fishers and rabbits. We never expected to add a bear. Now lots of people are on the lookout for moose, but they generally don't come that close to heavily settled areas.

[Yppej]

I wish there was a hawk on my neighborhood to eat mice and squirrels.