The Culprit

Several days ago, I mentioned that we'd had a bear on the deck who absconded with three feeders.  Very annoying, especially since it came and went in broad daylight without us seeing a thing.  Well, today I put a new feeder out, went back inside to do some work and an hour later ... feeder gone.  At this point, "irritation" doesn't begin to describe my attitude towards the felonious bear.

Well, fast forward another hour and I look out in the back yard...to see a bear ambling along.  Never one to pass up a blip-ortunity, I grabbed my camera (and the air horn) and dashed to the deck to snap a few pics, this being one.  This photo was taken with 420 mm using a full frame camera and it is not cropped.  The bear was probably about 30-40 feet from where I was standing (two steps from the back door, I might add).  
After I got my shots, I blew the horn and the bear leapt into the air and high-tailed it into the woods.

This bear is probably a youngster, on his/her own for the first time.  It is properly scared of people, which is a good thing.  That said, I'll be very careful in the garden in the days ahead.  And I'll have my air-horn with me when I head out.  

It's a gloomy, cool day which is actually really nice for photos as it brings up the saturation nicely.  I'll probably spend a little time out back with the camera this afternoon if the rain holds off.  Hubs is leaving shortly for a racing weekend in southern NJ, about 3 hours from here, so I'll be holding down the fort this weekend.  

For a daily dose of cute, here's an adorable tufted titmouse.  And if you can't get enough of the bear, here's one more shot

Happy Friday, people!