I was sitting on the kitchen deck enjoying some afternoon sun and a cool glass of iced tea this past week. We have an old feral cat that we were able to collect up and have her neutered with the Spay and Neuter Program which has calmed her down to some degree.

She is a tough old cat and really doesn’t back down from too many challenges, which worries my wife about her safety. She will take on groundhogs and raccoons if need be and any other critters that visit our yard without batting an eye or twitching her tail.

She was studying a thick bunch of day lilies, hoping to see a chipmunk blunder by her. She used to be a mouser, but the years have slowed her down and we believe that she is also deaf as a stone!

You can imagine the old girl watching intently for any action coming her way from the lilies. For some reason, as I was watching her antics, she turned around to check up on me and her tail got instantly jolted into double its size. She looked at me and bolted right for me and under my deck chair. This caused me to laugh and remark that I hadn’t seen a cat move like that for many a moon. My wife gathered up our empty glasses and went into the kitchen to wash them out. I heard her yell out something which faintly sounded like, look around the corner…there is a bear!

I picked myself up from a comfortable seat and peered around the corner of the house to see the front area. At first, I didn’t see anything and was thinking that I was being messed with by her and the cat. When I yelled back that I didn’t see anything, there was some movement and then a black bear stood up…now I saw something! He wasn’t a very big bear, likely last year’s cub that was sent on his way and now fending for himself.

He chose to fend for himself at our bird feeders. I called out to him and told him to beat it as I waved my arms and hat at him. He was not impressed and quickly returned to eating spilled bird seed. I yelled again and took a few stomping steps toward him and he decided to run around the other corner of the house. I was hoping that this wasn’t going to become a Three Stooges-episode chase scene as we all ran in circles around the house. No, he came back toward the feeder and tried to grab it and take off with it.

Because he looked like Boo Boo Bear from Jelly Stone Park, I wasn’t too worried and yelled at him again. He ran to the woods edge and waited there on the game trail that the deer frequented.

I waved my arms once again and walked toward him and he finally got the message and crashed up through the tree tops and out of sight. I went down to the bird feeding station to survey the damage and saw that only one feeder was missing and the others were somewhat empty of feed.

I walked around the shrubbery and couldn’t locate the feeder. I then walked up to the game trail and about 25 feet up the trail I spied the feeder. Fearing the worst, I picked it up and to my pleasant surprise it was not damaged too bad. That feeder is made of a heavy plastic pipe and made to look like a birch log with steel perches along the sides of it.

The iron stake and hanger didn’t fare as well and was bent over like a rainbow. Little bear, but apparently stronger than he looked…I was able to straighten it out with some effort.

We decided to follow the PA Game Commission’s advice and pull in the bird feeders to keep the bear from a repeat visit. As for Mama the cat, she wanted to go back into her hideaway in the garage and lay low for a few days as well. It’s always a tough decision to try to feed all the birds that visit and to also keep the other wildlife away from the feeders.

This is the time of year that many animals bring their offspring out for display. Keep in mind that you should not interfere with any young animals that you may come into contact with in your daily activities. First of all, you will be breaking the law and many of the adult animals will be around to gather up their young. They are cute when they are young, but can be a bit more aggressive as they grow to maturity.

Until we meet again, look around the corner once in a while because you never know what might be waiting there for you and be safe!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle