Remember that old camp song? One group would sing with another group echoing the lines:

The other day,
(The other day)
I met a bear,
(I met a bear)
Away up there,
(Away up there)
A great big bear!
(A great big bear!)

The other day I met a bear,
A great big bear a way up there!

He looked at me
(He looked at me)
I looked at him
(I looked at him)
He sized up me
(He sized up me)
I sized up him
(I sized up him)

He looked at me, I looked at him,
He sized up me, I sized up him.

He said to me
(He said to me)
"Why don't you run?
("Why don't you run?)
I see you don't
(I see you don't)
Have any gun"
(Have any gun")

He said to me, "Why don't you run?
I see you don't have any gun."

And so I ran
(And so I ran)
Away from there
(Away from there)
And right behind
(And right behind)
Me was that bear
(Me was that bear)

And so I ran away from there,
And right behind me was a that bear.

Ahead of me
(Ahead of me)
I saw a tree
(I saw a tree)
A great big tree
(A great big tree)
Oh, golly gee!
(Oh, golly gee!)

Ahead of me there was a tree,
A great big tree, oh, golly gee!

The lowest branch
(The lowest branch)
Was ten feet up
(Was ten feet up)
I had to jump
(I had to jump)
And trust my luck
(And trust my luck)

The lowest branch was ten feet up,
I had to jump and trust my luck.

And so I jumped
(And so I jumped)
Into the air
(Into the air)
And missed that branch
(And missed that branch)
Away up there
(Away up there)

And so I jumped into the air,
And missed that branch away up there.

Now don't you fret
(Now don't you fret)
And don't you frown
(And don't you frown)
I caught that branch
(I caught that branch)
On the way back down
(On the way back down)

Now don't you fret and don't you frown,
I caught that branch on the way back down.

That's all there is
(That's all there is)
There is no more
(There is no more)
Until I meet
(Until I meet)
That bear once more
(That bear once more)

That's all there is, there is no more,
Until I meet that bear once more.

The end, the end
(The end, the end)
The end, the end
(The end, the end)
The end, the end
(The end, the end)
The end, the end!
(The end, the end!)

The end, the end, the end, the end,
This time it really is the end!

Well, we sure hope it is the end, but we suspect that it is not. Today I had my first up close and personal bear encounter. At about 5pm I looked out our laundry room window, which faces the chicken coop, and there was a black bear inside the fence, with a chicken in his mouth. I said "Oh, SHOOT" and ran out the back door yelling. I shouted at him and he picked up his chicken and went toward the back of the chicken yard. I had to go around the fenced yard to get to the back and when I got there, he was already in the woods. I walked over that way to see where he was, and he had stopped (with my chicken!) about 30 yards into the woods. I shouted and waved and jumped up and down, and he just looked at me. I picked up a stick and threw it and he turned to leave but then turned back because he'd forgotten his dinner! I found a good sized rock, moved to my left a little where I could get a better view, and shouted and threw it at him. That got his attention and he turned and trotted down the hill.

Sheesh!

Luckily, he must have just gotten into the yard and killed the chicken when I saw him. The rest of the birds were still in the coop and some even out in the yard. I had left the big door open so fortunately he was not actually in the coop, which I'm sure he would have been before much more time had passed.

At about that time Ken happened to call as he was just leaving work and wanted to know if we needed anything from the store. I said "bear repellent?" and told him what happened. It was our fault really, because while we had fenced the yard, we had not put up the electric yet, and so the bear basically just crushed the fence down and climbed over. So while Ken was on his way home, I started attaching insulators to the fence posts. After Ken got home, we replaced the fence post at the back corner which was bent inwards at the bottom, and added two more fence posts to reinforce the mesh fencing in a couple spots. Then I started stringing wire. We have one at the top and one on stand-off insulators about half way down. Ken mounted a 3-mile charger inside the coop, attached it to the ground, and ran the wire to the fence. It's providing 2000V per a voltage tester, which we hope is enough deterrent. We may have to put a stronger charger up if recommended - we need to contact Fish & Game and see what they say. I'd prefer about 5000V myself...

Oh, and it's time to get out the shotgun and give it a good cleaning. ;-)