Rebel Roaming

Meghan and I got out on Sunday to enjoy the sunny weather. Out in Women's Bay we walked Rebel into the tide flats to spot a few birds. Kodiak has hosted several unique bird species during their spring migration including the greater white-fronted goose. The flats were a great place to let Rebel off of his leash. He is completely uninterested in birds unless he mistakes them for a squirrel so we knew that he wouldn't ruffle any feathers.

After leaving Women's Bay we headed out the Boy Scout Lake Trail and found our way to the sandy beach. We were amazed at the large fine sand that stretched to the waves. Meghan said that it looked like Mexico - green surf, black rocks and the beatiful sand. To Meghan's dismay I let Rebel off the leash to explore the tide pools and stretch out his legs. With good reason Meghan is always vigilant for bald eagles who might like the taste of hot dog. Nonetheless, Rebel and I sprinted across the beach a few times while a couple of "baldies" scoped the scene.

New Bike + Hungry Bears = Kodiak Excitement

The bears on Kodiak are in the final stages of hyperphagia. Although most have of the bears around town have fattened up, they are still looking for a few thousand more calories before heading to the hills for winter. Their preferred food sources, salmon and berries, are becoming less available and we have had numerous reports of bears picking through trash cans. The local experts say that we will see bears in and around town for the rest of the month. That said, we are on high alert for hungry bears. I was on high alert for big brown bears on my mountain bike ride yesterday. Sure enough, near the end of my ride at Boy Scout Lake, a forested state recreation site, I rounded a turn as a very fat dark brown bear was making his way down the hillside toward a stream. I skidded to a stop and caught the attention of the bear. He started to move back up the hillside, stopped, and looked over his shoulder to figure out what I was. A large tree blocked our direct eye contact as both of us waited for the other to make a move. After catching my breath and relieved to see that he was not moving any closer I used the most confident voice I could muster and told the bear to "go on, go on." Once he realized that I was just a nonthreatening human he began to walk down the hillside, keeping one eye on me as he made his way down to the stream. After that I headed for home, on the paved well-traveled main road. October bear count = 2.