Bear in the woods

For those of you who heard Abby's deep bark this morning, there was a very good reason.

We went to the road to get the newspaper, then across the road to our little woods.  Abby's noise instantly went up in the air, the hair on her back stood straight and she started to bark in a noticeably deeper voice.

Abby continued to bark with her nose held high but she didn't venture off the dirt road into the woods.  I was sure she had scared a deer and it was now gone so started calling her to head back to the house.  I was sure she was annoying the neighbors at this point so enough was enough.  Abby stood her ground and just as I was starting to walk away a big black blob slid down one of the trees and started moving through the underbrush.  I turned back to get a closer look and a black bear was calmly, but quickly, moving through the woods and into the open back yard of our neighbors. 

Hey, Shilo and Neal; have you seen our neighborhood bear?

Although north Kitsap is home to a large bear population we seldom see them in this close and I haven't seen one in our yard since the first couple years we lived here.  I wanted to call the bear back and let it know it was welcome to live in our woods but for now it is gone and that is probably best; there are wilder areas where the bear will be happier.