This blog is not about my pictures, it’s about a neighbourhood experience. This past Monday, we had a visitor to our neighbourhood, a black bear. We were not home, but our neighbour, Eleanor Benham spotted the intruder and snapped some great photographs. These pictures were taken in Eleanor’s back garden, just two doors down from our house.
Judging by its size, this bear is likely quite young. Perhaps too young to be wary of humans and seemingly unperturbed about being sighted in this garden. At this time of the year, bears are focused on feeding in preparation for hibernation. Berries of various types are a staple for them and they’ll seek them out wherever they can. Wild berries are common in Canmore and it is not unusual for bears to venture into town to feed on them. What is unusual is to see a bear this close to a house in the daytime. He was quite aware of Eleanor’s presence on her deck. He graciously posed for this shot and then resumed dining.
I like this picture, showing the bear pausing for a little scratch. The art to wildlife photography is to capture the animal doing something more than just standing around. Something unusual is even better! In both these photos, we get a little glimpse of the bear doing things that bears do.
Congratulations, Eleanor. Terrific photographs.
We just have racoons in our backyard. Nice looking bear tho.