Last week my daughter and I had a picnic on our back porch, one that almost made us late to her soccer game. On our way down the hill I thought, “Huh, I didn’t close the window. I should turn around and make sure the door was shut too.”
Too late. Soccer was starting!
I wasn’t concerned with anyone breaking in, but there’s always the possibility of a bear meandering through the yard. But seriously, it’s not like a bear was going to break into our house to eat the scrumptious butterscotch coconut cookies we’d left on the counter.
So I watched the monkey score a goal in her game and we happily chattered all the way home, only to discover giant gashes in the window screen and the back door open.
I might have freaked out.
The cookies were untouched, so this had just happened. The house was quiet, but bears can be stealthy.
I called my husband at work. No answer. I called my father (who has guns). No answer. I called my friend (whose husband has guns). She asked if I was sure it wasn’t some other animal.
Um… what other animal makes giant gashes (we’re talking six inches here, people) and shreds a screen?
I freaked out a little more.
Finally got a hold of husband–he said he’d come right home. (No, I didn’t want to check the entire house for a bear with a four-year-old in tow).
Then I saw a tiny pile of black pellets on the ground. Curiouser and curiouser… My computer was upstairs (and I wasn’t going there), but I googled “squirrel poop” on my phone…
And lo and behold, but there was a picture of the same little black pellets. A squirrel calling card, if you will.
Moral of the story? Don’t feed squirrels macadamia nuts and then stop feeding them. Apparently they get a little irked and are quite good at impersonating bears.
Love the new background, and this post is a writing lesson in itself. Great way to build suspense then use humor to release the tension.
I should have guessed squirrels. Any self-respecting bear would have been after those cookies – I certainly would have been. 🙂
Wow and I thought squirrels were all cute n cuddly!! ;p Can't imagine having to worry about a bear in the house.. now that would be weird *grin*
Glad it wasn't a bear, we get quite a few squirrels in our garden but as yet don't come in to the house.
Yvonne.
There's a bear in there,
And a chair as well,
There are people with games,
And stories to tell,
Open wide, come inside,
It's Stephanie's home.
(For those, not privileged to have grown up with Playschool, you need to see the opening song of the most loved kids TV programme in Australian history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNxBOmV9tUY
This show was huge when I was a toddler, and it's still going strong. The lyrics are sort of apposite.
Who knew squirrels could be such I impersonators. Lol
My imagination would have had me believing there was a gang of rogue bears in the house. 🙂
This bear thing seems to be a recurring theme…didn't you have a similar encounter a year ago:) But I guess you do have a bit more wildlife around than most. I can see concerns of having bears around, but it's also a neat opportunity to see them up close…when life gives you lemons…make lemonade:)
ACK! I'd be freaking out thinking a bear was lurking around the corner smacking his chops.
Soooo…did you start feeding the squirrel again?
Our local wildlife gets into some shennaningans, but no bear impersonators yet, thank goodness! How scary!
BTW, I answered your "ask the editor" question on my blog today.
I'm so glad you guys are safe. What a story! We have too many squirrels here so we definitely don't feed them. We've been amazed, actually, that they don't try to get at our bird feeder. Not sure what we've done differently, but we'll keep doing it. LOL!
Wow! I knew squirrels could be aggressive, but that's scary!
But not as scary as a bear wandering in your house.
We've had squirrel issues when camping – they can be nuts!! But I wouldn't have thought that damage was caused by them. Crazy 🙂
Oh, my gosh, THAT'S HILARIOUS!! I love your writing style!
Oh that's too funny for words! And amazing how things differ between the places we live – we have kangaroos on our roads (occasionally) but no bears at all! I had to laugh when I read about the squirrel, though I'm still wondering who made the giant gashes 😀
Hugs,
Rach
Man! That's scary! I would have done the same thing.
I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a bear. I remember your last post about bears, and … yeah.
ahaha! well. I can't blame you. Especially after the other close encounter. Better to be safe than sorry! Especially with the kiddo!