The Roar

Yesterday, just about twilight, we had a visit by our "resident" black bear.

I was sitting on the porch, reading, when I became aware of more noise than usual in the woods, just 50 or so feet from where I sat.  It took a while to register, because the cicadas were in great form, as they have been for a while and twilight seems to be their signal to start up.  The noise in the forest  grew louder, the sounds of breaking branches, loud thumpings, and then snorting and snuffling noises --  and coming closer..  The cat that had been sitting by my feet jumped up and ran indoors, hissing.  I followed, not hissing, but very curious.

My second cat ran up the stairs and into the bedroom, jumped up on the table under the window and flattened himself on the table so that only his eyes were above the window sill.  I had never seen him behave that way before; he is nearly 14 years old and is generally calm and pretty laid back.

I walked over to the window and began peeking out.  Suddenly, a huge roar shook the window glass.  Another followed almost immediately.  I jumped.  The cat jumped.  The window glass shook.  I gathered my courage and peeked out again.  (As though somehow whatever it was could be right outside the window, 30 feet in the air -- could it be Godzilla?  King Kong?  T-Rex?)

All at once, I spotted him:  the bear!  And in a terrible temper!  He continued to roar, breaking branches, scuffing up the forest floor and snorting/snuffing/growling in between roars.  After a few minutes, he continued along his way, still upset and letting everyone in the area know about it.  He looked unhurt, just angry. 

About midnight, I heard a large animal moving though the woods again.  I suspect it was the bear,  but this time, there was no roaring or growling.  Just his normal "snuffling around, checking things out and looking for food" nightly wanderings.

And suddenly, I wondered -- it is mating season for bears?