Close encounters of a bear kind

This weekend while in Highland County, I had the great luck to see a black bear near McDowell.

I was driving toward home from Monterey about 5 p.m. when I spotted what I first thought to be a large black dog standing in the bushes near the edge of the highway. Thinking that this was an awfully remote spot for a dog to be wandering around, I slowed down for a better look.

The animal poked its head up a bit farther, and I realized that I was looking at a young bear. I took a quick glance in the rear view mirror to make sure that there was no traffic, and simply stopped my car in the middle of the highway.

The bear was only about 50 feet away, and it initially started to run out in the road. Then it glanced in my direction and returned to the bushes. After a few seconds, it came back on to the highway, crossed quickly in front of me, and scrambled up a steep embankment on the opposite side.

I waited for a while, hoping that maybe a mama bear would pop into view. The bear that I had observed appeared to weigh about 60 pounds and had probably been born this past February.

Generally, the cubs stay with their mother throughout their first year of life. However, she must have either been keeping a low profile or perhaps had crossed the road before I arrived because I never caught a glimpse of her.

Although the black bear population has been increasing in Virginia during the past 25 years, this was only the third time I had ever seen one. A number of years ago John and I observed an adult female on the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. That individual ignored the nearby traffic and simply meandered down the grassy edge of the roadside. This area has a very high concentration of bears and is probably the most likely spot in Virginia to find them.

Our other encounter was at night on the outskirts of the Great Dismal Swamp when a large “bear-shaped” object dashed through the glare of our headlights.

This wasn’t a very satisfactory look, and I always think of that episode as the “bear that I almost saw.”

At any rate, I was thrilled with the great view on Saturday. I was also really happy that I was in my car. I don’t think that I want to find a young bear while both of us are on foot.

News and notes
The great egret that has been hanging around Mill Creek Lake was still there last Thursday. In spite of shorebird observations both to the north and south of us, we have not had any migrants in our area. However, the hummingbird numbers are beginning to build, with some readers reporting more than 20 birds at the feeders.