Sign of Good Fortune?

Word has it that sighting a Praying Mantis is the sign of good fortune. After we found this guy on our garage floor, I look forward to the future!

Wordless Wednesday

We had two visitors this morning.

(Am I seeing things, or does it look like he's sticking his tongue out at me??!! Fresh little thing!)

Keep going guys...nothing for you here!!

Linked to: Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Look Who's Awake!

I snapped this quickly (sorry so blurry...I couldn't move fast enough...scared the stuffin' right out of me!!) as "Little Bear" zoomed right past me this morning. I parked in the driveway since it was so nice, but you can bet my van will be back in the garage today!!

Hopefully his friends or relatives won't be back on the homestead again this year!!

Linked to: Wordless Wednesday

Wild Kingdom

Okay...I'm not old enough to remember the original Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom show (started airing in 1963), I actually wasn't even thought of at that point...try about 13 or so years later, but my husband and sister are 10 years my senior, and remember the show from the 1970's. They affectionately refer to where we live as "Wild Kingdom".
We have many a bear, deer, coyotes, turkeys (coming out of our ears...anyone need one for Thanksgiving??!!), raccoons, skunks, possums, foxes, and the occasional Canadian Bobcat. Well...we have a new neighbor in town. A MOUNTAIN LION!!! A neighbor of ours (we don't have any 'real neighbors' per se) but a man down the road is an avid hunter in our surrounding woods and sets up a motion sensored camera to track deer and bear paths. Well...his camera captured a mountain lion with a doe in it's mouth just the other day.
This is getting a little too wild for me!
Bears, bobcats, mountain lions...Oh My!!!

This Morning's Visitors

Take a look at our six uninvited and unwelcome guests. We had one hungry Mama and her five littles this morning...

A Bear Encounter...

A 400lb. black bear... in my dining room.

My husband, my daughter and I were downstairs in the basement watching TV (ironically it was an episode about Extreme Alaskan bears) and we heard a crash upstairs. I thought something had fallen, so I quickly ran up (my three year old had fallen asleep coming home from my nieces Confirmation, so I took him from the car and brought him inside still sleeping...he was ten feet away from the incident...still sleeping!!) and peeked in the kitchen- nothing was awry. So, I went around the corner, and came face-to-face with a 400lb. black bear. We have a sliding glass door off of our dining area, which is attached to the kitchen, and it was 75 degrees, so we had the glass door open and used the screen door, which is usual for us on warm days/nights. He/she had knocked the screen door right in and it fell to the wood floor (which is the crash we heard) and he/she had walked right in the house from the patio. I immediately started screaming for my husband, and everything flashed through my mind within seconds...how do I get my son out without getting mauled, how can I get a pot to either bang together or hit it with without getting mauled (which the "bear experts" recommend). I started making as much noise as I possibly could screaming, clapping, yelling, and waving my arms to frighten it. Somehow, by truly God's intervention, he/she backed right up back out the door and sat on the steps (this was all within about 20 seconds!!) I then ran around the table and managed to slam the glass door shut from the other side, then locking it. The bear then tried to get in again, slamming and pawing at the door.

I am so grateful for God's protection that no one was hurt/killed. I am so grateful that I did not have a heart attack (I know it sounds funny...but I was so frightened and I have a heart condition to begin with, that was certainly a possibility!!). And, I am so grateful for the five state troopers that came right away and chased this bear for over an hour to get a clear shot, to no avail. They were determined and tried their hardest, deep into the woods in the pitch black of night. I will be even more grateful when we get this bear...

The next morning the state contacted us to come to put up a bear trap to try to catch it (not the first time we've had one...and it never trapped one either!!) Well, yesterday the family of six bears (I think it was actually the Mama that came into the house) tried to get in the door again, then walked right over to the trap, looked in, and kept on walking. They're smarter than we think!!

So, it is an adventure living here in the Northeast, and we were always super cautious to all of the wildlife we have around our property. We are used to it. But never, ever did I think I had to be afraid in my home. Until now.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you watch over us, our families, and our children. We thank you for being the place we can run to for safety, refuge and shelter. Hear our prayers, Lord. Keep our hearts tuned in to You as we dwell in the shelter of Your kingdom.