Aragorn Comes For A Visit

 Our reality is that we live in Bear Country.  I couldn't be any happier about this than I am. 

Because we live in Jackson and not far from restaurants and inns, the bears travel frequently around Jackson Village.  On a daily basis some regulars pass through our yard on the way up from the Ellis River headed to the Shannon Door Pub and other places. 

We don't feed the bears.  We don't even keep birdfeeders out once winter turns to spring and the first bear paw print is seen.  But they travel through our yard anyways.

One of the locals is Aragorn.  I've named him this although I'm not sure what others call him. He's young and more than a little skittish, but he seems to be fascinated by Atticus.  We first met Aragorn a couple of years ago when Atticus and I were on a walk.  We crisscrossed paths with him a few times and when we returned home and were out in the backyard, he was maybe ten yards away in the vacant yard next to ours. 

I reminded Atticus that not all "dogs are friendly" and so he sat.  Strangely, so did the very young Aragorn.  When Atticus dropped to a Sphinx position, amazingly so did Aragorn.  Since that day we've encountered the bear several times.

This year, however, he's become far less skittish with us.  He has always been curious but kept his distance.  And from what I've heard and seen, he's not a big fan of other people around town, but he seems quite taken by Atticus. 

Just a couple of weeks ago, Atticus and I were sitting outside when Aragorn came into the yard and sat as Atticus sat, watching the crows, the butterflies, and the chipmunks while we watched them.  He was only fifteen feet away and stayed there for about fifteen minutes. It was only after he heard our neighbor that he commenced to hissing, huffing, and snapping his jaws before rumbling off towards the river out back. 

This morning, just after I finished watering some flowers on our little deck, a place Aragorn has taken a nap on while taking advantage of an oversized dog bed out there, I took several photographs of a spider who lives outside our door.  Soon after I was on my hands and knees cleaning the floor right inside the open door.  I felt a nudge from behind and it was Atticus.  When I looked up, just two feet away, young Aragorn was looking at me. 

Now, I'm no fool and understand the bears who live us are not our pets nor are they tame.  They are wild animals.  My rule of thumb is to make sure they and we both have exit strategies and that keeps the stress level down.  So this morning, with the door open and me ready to shut if need be, I slowly picked up my camera and took a few pictures of Aragorn. 

When it was over and I asked him to leave, he turned to leave.  He always does when I ask him to. 

The way I see it is that this was the land of the bears before it was our land.  In the five years we've lived here, we seem to have things worked out pretty well with the chipmunks, woodpeckers, fox, and bear.  I'm not sure if you'd call it mutual respect, but it's clear we've come to some kind of agreement.   

Enjoy these photographs of Aragorn, a bear who has seemingly fine manners when it comes to our interactions.