“What are you looking at?” seems to say a black bear enjoying the spoils from a bird feeder in the front yard of the Foleys on West Bare Hill Road on April 19. (Courtesy photo)
’Twas the day before Easter, and early, at that.
Not a creature was stirring, not even the cat.
The birdfeeder hung by the window with care,
A squirrel-proof buster, with cardinal fare.
At 7 a.m., I heard a slight clang,
Of metal on metal. “Those birds are loud! Dang!”
I put down my coffee and rose to my feet,
To witness some perching of chickadees—sweet!
When what, to my wondering eyes made me stare,
But my toppled-down feeder, held by a bear.
A lumbering fellow, with black and brown face,
Sat right by my window and continued apace,
To eat all my birdseed, a fine morning snack.
Do I put it back up? He’ll probably be back.
He spoke not a word but continued his work.
Free food here in Harvard—a good town to lurk.
“Wake up,” to my family, “Bear is out there!”
He continued to munch, we continued to stare.
He was chubby and plump, black fur, in good health.
I wanted to pat him, in spite of myself.
Enormous, relaxed, a hungry black ursa,
I’m glad he was out and me in, not vice versa.
Then turning his back, with some seeds on his nose,
He finished his meal; on all fours he rose.
As he lumbered away to the woods over there,
We said “Happy Easter” to the Bear on West Bare.
A black bear visited a home on West Bare Hill Road at approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 19, and proceeded, for 20 minutes, to enjoy a delicious, low-carb snack of Premium Songbird Feed with no resistance from a newly acquired Brome Squirrel-Buster Classic. The bear subsequently departed at a leisurely pace in the general direction of Bare Hill Pond.
