Late May 2008

Dear Friends:

Yawn – oh boy, am I tired! I just woke up a few days ago, and now I had to march through the deep woods and tons of snow to get to my home in Limestone! I still have to get my bearings; I am a little confused, but lets start at the beginning: Hi: My name is Teddy. I am a very proud black bear with a white bib; and my people tell me I weigh at least 400 pounds, and that’s not even soaking wet!

It all started in the summer of 2000 I was walking in the forest, when I overheard a couple of foxes talking about their favorite food spot. It seems there was this couple in Limestone, Maine, who would put out some suet every day for the crows, and the foxes and coyotes. Well, smelling a free meal, I followed the foxes and my nose, and here it was; close to the edge of the woods so I had a quick way to escape if these strangers would not like my being there. I discovered in front of me a “decked out table” on their lawn, only the tablecloth and dinnerware was missing – Hmmm, that was good. I filled my tummy and headed back into the woods. Just in case there would be some food available the next day, I came back to check up on it. And there it was again, a full meal for me, enough even that I could leave some for my buddies, the foxes.

Over the years I got to meet the people, my adopted family. The food was always good and plenty – every so often they tried out some new stuff on me, but I am not much of a connoisseur: Donuts, no thank you. Raw fish? You got to be kidding! Just because their inky papers which they call books say bears are known to love donuts and fish, no, not for me. Give me a suet steak any day, but please leave the red meat out, I am all for whites, like SUET!

Gabriele scared the heck out of me one night, when she came trotting out looking for me, but being blind as a bat. Well, humans just are not blessed with a beary night-vision; she almost ran into me. I made for the woods, she ran back into the square den she lives in, and I swear I heard her heart beating all the way out here in the woods. After that we were both more careful – after all, I did not want to scare her to death; who would feed me then? And she brought along a bright light, her night eye, to see me better. Over the years we got used to each other. She and Jim, the other person she lives with all year long. That’s another weird thing humans do. I find myself a girlfriend every summer, have a great old time with her and then get the heck out of her life. Anyway, they respect me and keep their distance, and I do the same.

 Last year I became very sick. I started loosing my beautiful black fur; both my sides were totally naked. I overheard them talking about “mange”, some disease which is deadly to foxes, and often to black bears. Would it be possible that my friends, the foxes, who had shown me this feeding station, had also infected me?

I had seen several almost naked foxes around lately, and even though I had no close contact with them, I guess I could have picked up some of the mites responsible for mange. They started feeding me some delicious dog food, which they had laced with some terrible tasting medicine. I smelled something fishy, but I could not resist. After three weeks I had enough of the stuff, a bear can take only so much. I was supposed to take this medicine for five weeks; imagine that! Not me! So I stayed away for a week, and figured they had learned their lesson. But no, they managed to get one more treatment into me! After that devious action I could not take anymore and left for the summer. See how they feel about that! But, I grudgingly have to admit, whatever they fed me worked. While I was sleeping it off last winter, my fur grew back beautiful, and I am once again the most handsome guy you have ever laid eyes on!

Anyway, here I am again, the 9th year in a row. I got here two weeks later than usual, but hey, I have no snowshoes, and how is a 400-pound bulk supposed to make it through six feet of snow in the northern Maine woods?  It took me much longer for the journey this year, and I am also very hungry now.  Thank God my people are still feeding me, and when the open that glass thing they call a window, and talk to me, I usually ignore them and just keep on eating. Sometimes, like right now, when I am still so tired after the long winter sleep and that awful long trek to their den, I just lay down while eating, or I do the other thing, which seems to crack them up. I really can’t figure out human behavior: I lay down on my front legs, stick my butt in the air, usually to show them that I am all man, not like those poor dogs they keep confined in their shelter and which I heard are "ITs", not "HEs" anymore. If they think that’s funny, let them laugh, as long as they give me some suet.

Yesterday I decided to walk up close to their house; they have an interesting rosebush close to it, and the ground around it promised some tasty grubs for dessert. But then this man, Jim, opens the window and says: “Okay, Teddy, that’s far enough, you know you have no business this close to my house. Go back in the woods!” I lifted up my head, listened to him, and ignored him. Then he got loud, hurting my sensitive ears. Okay, since I am the smarter one, I got up, and walked very slowly, showing Jim my butt and suggesting what I thought of him. It's back into the woods – Hmmmm, life is great in Limestone!

Phoebe

The poor little girl, in the above picture and right, goes by the name of Phoebe. She saw the vet last week to be spayed. There will never be “motherhood” in the future for her. I told you about this “new” dog at our shelter last month; now she is ready to have a new home. She is a very smart little girl, and even Ted who is all in for the big guys and can’t really find anything appealing in small dogs, has fallen head over heels for her. She is still very young, between a year and two-years old and she would make a great dog for someone out there.

King, our Shepherd, also was neutered last week. He kind of walks around with a bedraggled face now, but I am sure he’ll get over it.

Other than lots of weird weather; one day hot, the next day cold, one day pouring rain, a few days later everything so dry there is the threat of wild fires. Once again we have to deal with two types of vampires; black flies and mosquitoes. But that’s nothing new, and it beats the winter with $2,000 monthly heating costs.

CAT REPORT  –  May 2008

May is birthday month: The five youngest funny-foots were born May 12, 1998 (the first cat births I’d ever seen; luckily, their mother knew what to do), and Kennebec was born May 1, 2000. It’s hard to believe Lisa, Black Peter John Paul Joe Louis, Pooh and their brother in Vassalboro and sister in Anchorage are 10 years old! I saved a bag of the Alaskan catnip Jane sent for Valentine’s Day for a May 12 birthday party.  I sprinkled it around & called cats: Lisa ambled out of bed, ate two leaves and went back to nap some more, and Pooh and Peter completely ignored me and the catnip. Robin and Agnes had a lovely time, though; Agnes rolled in it until she changed from a gray cat to a green-speckled cat.

Our oldest cats are coming into their mid-teens now – that’s hard to believe, too. Purina/Meg (the only one left who knew Charley), Alison and Randall are about 13. Meg still shares my bed with my black Jenny and, when they leave space, me. J Randall and Alison live downstairs, in the same group as Christopher, the older funny-foot who’s still with me – he’s about 11.

Some of you may remember a year or so ago he was so thin that I lugged him to the vet repeatedly; we never did put a name to his problem, but it seems to have gone away. Meg had a cold earlier this spring and the antibiotic that cured it made her not eat well for a few days, but otherwise they’ve been in good health so far this year (knock on wood).

A friend of Gabriel’s whom I know only by her on-line name, eBay schreck, sent a nice catnip-stuffed toy, a black and yellow bumblebee almost as big as a tennis ball, that became a present for Kennebec. He was dozing on his favorite flat bed on top of a food-storage container when I unwrapped it and put it in front of him. He reached out and carefully touched one of its gauzy wings; then he leaned forward to sniff it; then he gently pulled it to him, tucked it under his chin and went back to sleep. (Since then, it’s had a more active life.)

Oswald, our new guy, continues to do just fine on his three-and-a-half legs.  He tears around and often tries to coax other cats to play with him, sometimes successfully. He’s in the group that can go on the porch; they’re enjoying having the birds back to entertain them. A female redstart has been collecting nesting material from the shrub and the ground in front of the porch, completely oblivious to the line of cat noses pressed against the screen above her.

Thanks to the cats’ many friends, I had a lot of coupons for food and litter this month – such fun to get to the check-out with a loaded cart and watch the dollars click off the bill! Teresa and her sister in Pennsylvania provided some, and a big envelope full came via Gabi from Barb Anderson, Emile Jorgensen, Doris Lary, Willa Rockett and Irma Simon. Many thanks to them, and to Olivia Charles and Karen for cat food, and to all of you for supporting our cats and our dogs. 

Alice Winston, Swampscott

Carole Parker, Stoughton

Christel Friedow, Plymouth J

Cindy Houston, Woburn

Cristine Cardello, Melrose

Dale Critchley, S. Weymouth

Donna Bering, Lynn

Doris Lary, Hartland

Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossipe

Dorothy Eckstein, Medford

Enid Hayes, Halifax

Inge Maiellano, Marblehead

Iris Martinello, Tewksbury

Irma Simon, S. China

Jean Catignani, Conway

Jim Lavita, Dennis

Joe D’Alessandro, Tuftonboro

John Caswell, Newport

Jon & Barb Anderson, Augusta

Joseph Blake, New Bedford

Josephine Ford, Holden

Josephine Smith, Woburn

Judy & Al Smith, Belmont

Judy Rohweder, Northport

Linda Merriam, Dresden

Lorena & Harry Clark, Beverly

Marcia Smith, Bucksport

Marian Delarue, Woburn

Marlene Kaplan, Melrose

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