Da Bears...

It is a quiet day at home, just the screech of an electrician's cable pulling wires through the walls, a fruitful -- if daunting -- interview with an architect from Missoula and, eventually, the whir of my own hair dryer, when Eric calls from his home high on a hill above Hamilton.

"Are you interested in bears?" he asks dryly.

And we say, "Are we? Of course!" And he says, "Come on over. I've got two up in a tree." We're there in a flash -- me with damp hair, Alex almost forgetting and then retrieving my camera. And out Eric's back door, down a bit of slope and high up in a Ponderosa pine are the teddiest and furriest of bears -- Ursus americanus -- one cinnamon brown, one densely black (http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AMAJB01010.aspx).

Brown Bear is highest in the tree...

...and intent on something on the ground? Or asleep?

Oh, that's right, now he/she is looking at us!

Meanwhile, some 50 feet below Brown Bear but still high above our heads, Black Bear looks very, very sleepy.

He/she bestirs, but just a bit. Look at those claws!!

And then, making an editorial comment? or beginning to groom? a bear-sized tongue appears.

We walk back to Eric's deck, drink local beer and enjoy a sunny afternoon. Eric knows the bears are mostly interested in fruit, nuts, and some vegetation this time of year -- apples falling from his trees, bird food on his deck. They may be back. They may move on. Not a problem. Just another day in the Bitterroot!