Bear Attacks on the Homestead: A Relentless Week of Loss, Resilience, and Recovery
It seems we need a follow-up—or three—on the bear attack … now attacks … on the homestead. We thought the horrendous discovery Friday morning was the worst it could get: everything in shambles, five of our 17 birds missing. We were very wrong. Saturday gave us a brief pause. A breath. But then Sunday morning, my husband—who never wakes me—did just that. Before I opened my eyes I said, “More dead?” He replied, “I'm afraid so.” The bear had returned. It killed seven more birds, including our awesome Australorp roo. RIP Larry. It undid all the hard work we had done the day before like it was nothing. We rounded up the five remaining hens—a three-year-old Australorp, a seven-year-old Barred Rock, and three seven-year-old Sapphire Gems. A little worse for wear, but alive. We tucked them into an unused rabbit tractor and moved them daily across the grass, locking them up at night in the carport with the young chicks inside the “Cape Cod House” (a cute little movable coop I found on Amaz...