Burland bears and mtn lions

I have been asked to post as we are seeing an increasing number of bears and mtn lions in the mid bird section of Burland. I went out early this morning and when headed back in I saw a mtn lion crossing the driveway. Not my first sighting of her. She has been here for awhile. A friend sent some pix and descriptions but they aren't mine to post. Looks like she has a kit and has made several kills in the area drawing lots of bears. Saw a big brown colored black bear last night. He ate berries for awhile and pushed over some rocks looking for bugs on his way over the rocks to the mtn. lion's other kill.

The whole point of mentioning is to be cautious when walking out to your deck, garage, yard. Friend's husband had a close up encounter with a big black colored one when he was headed to the garage. She left her 2 cubs down below and showed up behind the house looking like she was headed to the garage too.

Make lots of noise when you go out. Friend has rigged her storm/screen door so that it slams every time they step out. And don't forget a walking stick. It just might end up being your first line of defense.

Stay safe and please watch especially your children and pets.

Just received an email from my sister who lives with my mom. There have been a number of bears in the Upper Bird section too. Neighbor has a small pond that they have been visiting.

Bears and mountain lions. In the mountains. Weird.......

Interesting that we don't seem to have as many bears and mtn. lion reports over on this side of Bailey on 43/47. At least I never hear about it. Wonder why? We are surrounded by NF and wilderness too. WTF Even coyotes seem rare over here.

You don't see them but they are watching you.

Momma and baby moose are making a pretty much daily walk through here.
medium bear still pops by every other week.

Yep, we saw the moose down by the fishing pond once. Just seems like many more reports are from Burland, maybe just more skittish city-slickers over there. J/K

I do appreciate the reports though, only because I love to see wildlife of all kinds.

most Burlanders think a large house cat is a mtn lion and 1 I know of thought that a newfoundland dog
was a bear.

It seems like a mule deer sanctuary around here. They always sleep under my deck when its hot, and get annoyed at me when I disturb them. The last 2 years I have had the same two mom's with three fawns hanging around every morning. They seem pretty comfortable around here anyway, no dogs. Never seen a single bear or mtn. lion. Maybe a handful of small solo coyotes in ten years. And the fox population seems down this year, only seen one little skinny one. Most years I see 5 or 6 foxes.

We have a den of five kits this year. They're very entertaining!

I put out flowers in a large half barrel on the porch in June. They generally last until around August when the deer eat them. This year it has been so hot and dry that the deer ate them within a week of my planting them! So last night I got a couple of live basil plants at King Soopers produce for a pot-luck dish for work. I took what I needed of the basil and stuck the remaining root ball in that planter - had some luck with doing that in the past, we'll see if they grow.

About an hour later I noticed two of our foxes playing on the front porch. After they left I took a look outside and found that the little sh**s has dug up one of the basil plants and left it lying on the front porch step! I guess they don't like Italian... tongue:

It is drier on the east side of bailey in comparison to the west side. Lots of bushes with berries that draw the bears. We think we are also seeing more wildlife because of the Lower North Fork fire, the origin, not that far away. Water probably another reason and not so crowded here to the national forest, their access.

Anyone seen the mother black bear and two cubs (all black colored) around Burland or elsewhere? Haven't seen them for awhile.