October 23, 2006

Well, we finally figured out what the bear was after. We recently went back up to the tepee to bear proof as much as possible and discovered a small bag that was zipped closed that we had forgotten about. It had a few scented candles (cinnamon and vanilla) in it which is most likely what the bear smelled in the tepee because the paw prints were just on the other side of the canvas where the bag was stored. We felt like such idiots when we figured out the source of our little problem. Since the last bear incident we have been staying with Kirk’s parents because we were afraid that the bear was after us and it seemed as if it wasn’t afraid of humans anymore. We luckily ran into a Department of Wildlife guy in town that gave us a lot of good information. He said the bear is just doing its last minute scavenging before it hibernates and that usually they have a circular track where they make rounds every couple of days to look for food. Obviously our property is on that track and we need to break its memory that there was any source of food there. If not it may come back after hibernating in search of food again. He gave us some M-80’s and some rubber buckshot just in case we need them. However, he told us that even if you have a shotgun, you better know how to shoot under duress and you better shoot to kill. That means never shoot them in the head because their skulls are too thick. Shoot them behind the shoulder where their heart is. If you happen to miss the bear or shoot it without killing it, you will succeed in just pissing it off and it will for sure pursue you at that point. Yikes! Kirk does have a shotgun, but we haven’t been keeping it up at the tepee because we haven’t had a reason to up until now. The DOW guy also told us to put some ammonia around because the smell is so strong that it will kill the smell of anything else. That was good advice because it seemed to work. We put ammonia inside the tepee and all around it. We also put it around our composter and our shed. When we went back up to the tepee there were no signs that the bear had returned. It had snowed and there were no tracks to be found around the tepee or anywhere on our property that we could see. We think the bear has either gone into hibernation or just realized there was no food for him on our property. Whew!

We are still staying with Kirk’s parents though because we are still a little traumatized by the whole thing. It’s pretty scary knowing the only thing between you and a hungry bear is about 5 feet and a sheet of canvas. In the meantime, Kirk and I have been offered a pretty sweet house sitting gig in town. A local businessman and his wife have a large house with a guesthouse behind it. They asked us to stay in the guesthouse and caretake the property while they spend the winter in Arizona. We eagerly said yes since it sits on a private pond that you can ice-skate on in the winter, it has an outdoor hot tub, it’s very cozy and it even has a steam shower and a guest bed as well as being in a beautiful location. We feel a little defeated since we had made up our minds to winter in the tepee before the bear incident, but we’re also ready for a little comfort. One thing we really miss is having a real kitchen to cook in. We didn’t get to cook much at Pole, so we really enjoy it now especially since it is getting colder out and it feels like baking season. Personally I’m also excited to unpack some things for a little while. I realized just the other day that Kirk and I have been living out of a suitcase now for 3 years (the duration of our marriage). All of our stuff is still in storage and will remain there until our house is finished. If anything that is good incentive to get it finished faster!

Speaking of the house, we’re almost done with our house plans (I know we keep saying that!), but they’re kind of on the back burner right now. Our business has suddenly become pretty busy, so as soon as we slow down again we’ll be able to finish up the house plans. It’s exciting though the closer we get fine tuning the details.