Rural living has distinct advantages, one of which is unexpected friends drop by from time to time.

One of the disadvantages, of course, is sometimes those visiting friends don’t like being disturbed while sunning themselves in your yard.

Case in point.

Yesterday afternoon this big fella wandered into the yard.

I, of course, got all excited about my visitor and scrambled for my camera and telephoto lens.

AS I did, the big fella plopped his ample butt down on the walkway and rested his front legs on an old stump to catch some rays.

This next part I don’t recommend.

I quickly (and quietly) exited my house armed with nothing but that camera and telephoto lens.

A wiser man would also carry a firearm in the unlikely event his visitor didn’t take kindly to the interruption.

Not me.

I walked around the corner of the house, got as close as I could, then snapped some pictures of the big boy.

He was NOT pleased.

Thankfully the wind changed and he couldn’t quite figure out where I was. He sniffed the air for a scent of me for about a minute.

While I’m keenly aware of the dangers of black bears, attacks are extremely rare.

I’ve spent a lot of my time on the mountain getting up close and personal with black bears, just to see how close I can get without them knowing.

My personal best is five (5) feet and, yes, it scared the crap out of both me and the bear. (That time I was armed with something more than a camera!)

In this photo the big brute is just 15 feet away with nothing but a rickety old picket fence between me and him.

After a minute or so he lost interest in me and slowly wandered away, but first stopped to sniff at a pot on the ledge of the fire pit.

I laughed out loud when the rattle of the lid startled him when he bumped it.

He scampered ten feet or so away from the noise, then stopped to see if the pot was giving chase.

It did not.

Before leaving my sight, he plopped his butt down in front of a spruce tree and scratched his back for 15 or 20 seconds. Sadly, I wasn’t able to capture image before he wandered away.

I do hope he comes back later for another visit though, at which point I’ll be prepared with a video camera set up to record him.

#MountainLife