Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:40:39 EDT
Message-Id: <9304151340.AA08376@grackle.stockbridge.ma.us>
To: science@oasys.dt.navy.mil, nsn@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au
Subject: bear country
From: bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001

[Oops! This bounced because of an address typo.  This happened last
night.]

Heard a thump about 15 minutes ago as I was falling asleep; and the
dog barked.  I went into the kitchen, turned on the light and looked
out the kitchen window, and found that a large black bear was looking
in at me.  The bear had knocked down the bird feeder at the base of
the windown and stood up to pull down the hanging feeder.  It ate the
seeds.

I went out and looked at it; the bear looked at me, not too worried.
If I came closer than about ten feet, it backed away.  It looks
healthy, with lucious, thick fur.  I resisted an urge to try to pet
it.

Now it has gone away.  I called the local police who say that people
reported the bear a couple of miles away from here over the past
several nights, knocking down bird feeders.  They want to keep track
of it.  Just in the past few months, rabies has become endemic in the
area (rabies infected raccoons had been migrating closer for several
years).  They fear the bear might get rabies, which would be sad and
possibly dangerous.  As it is, the bear is appears harmless so long as
you leave it an avenue to escape.

Now I'm back to bed.

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
    Rattlesnake Mountain Road        (413) 298-4725
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA