Yesterday I got up at 6am (something I try to avoid doing with any regularity! :). I peed, let the dogs out (Mattie in her fenced area out the back door, and Stanley out the front because he doesn't run or chase the deer much, while Emily stayed in). I was half asleep and didn't have my glasses on but Mattie was going ballistic so I looked out the window and saw a bear running by. Behind it was a little black thing and I thought cool, it has a cub. Then I realized it wasn't a cub, it was Stanley chasing the bear; all 25 pounds of him! Instinctively (and stupidly), I ran outside in order to rescue Stanley who had stopped. The bear was still headed for the woods so I scooped Stanley up and then I noticed that the bear had also paused, was holding his ground, and had turned to face me. Suddenly it was clear that I possess no more sense than Stanley does, and all I could think to do was to start screaming "he's looking at me!". Like some kind of suicidal domino effect, Larry ran out of the house, and I don't know if it was his stunning masculinity, or just our increasing numbers, but mr. bear decided he'd had enough of us and ran into the woods. I guess that's one way to wake up!
Anyways, the bear must have been around for a while because all of the cats were pretty traumatized. We've gotten everyone safe and inside except for Nigel. I still can't find him but he gets really freaked out about bears, last time it took 3 days before we dragged him from under a neighbor's shed. Loose (our goose) also hid. We found him wedged in a tiny space between his pen wall and some hay bales. Apparently he's smarter than both me and Stanley combined.
