Page 6 - JUNE 2025

Page 6
Community
By DoNNa RhoDes
I debated over what my topic would be this month, and the bears won. While moose are my favorite creature in NH, bears come in a close second, and I have some stories to share. A few of them include my beloved hik- ing partners, Grover and Suki, and a couple of our adventures over the years. Fortunately, most came when we were tucked in- side the house and the bears were in the yard.
Among them was the day Grover and I ran across a mom and two cubs while driving into
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town. He loved watching them and behaved like a gentleman. Luckily, he didn’t walk outside with me a few mornings later when a cub raced just a few feet from me in our driveway.
Another night, he and I were driving through Hill at sunset when a happily fed bear climbed the fence of the town transfer station and then raced across the road in front of us. Again, his head spun to watch, ears perked up, but he never made a sound. I was so relieved because his over- protective nature always had me on edge.
While hiking on Mount Car- digan, we had more close en- counters, but again, he never let me down and followed my direc- tives.
Sadly, Grover passed away in my arms on Black Friday one year and I thought my days of walking the trails were over. Then, through some act of God, a friend told me she knew of a family who had a two-year-old Golden Retriever they were look- ing to rehome as they were mov- ing to Montreal.
That’s how I got my new beautiful hiking partner, Suki.
Suki was perhaps as smart as Grover, but she was also smart enough to make up her own mind, not always playing all the tricks he did, nor following my hand signals, nor being the pro- tector Grover was. She did know when she was outmatched by “critters,” though.
Her first encounter with a bear was on Bridgewater Hill. It was November, and the first snow was coming that night, so I took one last “scenic” route home. It was there that I spotted a huge bear sitting on a stone wall. As I eased up beside him, Suki saw him and was on immediate alert; ears up, nose at the window, standing like a statue in her seat.
Thankfully, this bear was big enough to know we weren’t going
Photo by Donna Rhodes
A big, beautiful Bridgewater bear. One of my favorites.
to bother anyone his size, taking just a moment to evaluate us as he slowly climbed off the wall, crossing behind us. Suki’s head swiveled, too. He was so big, in fact, that we could see his back above the trunk of my car.
When he wandered into the oak woods on the other side to scratch up some acorns, Suki seemed to give a sigh of relief. Me too! That was one of the big- ger bears I’d ever seen.
One day, along the Smith River, Suki and I spotted a mama bear racing back and forth across the road several times. She was evidently trying to get the atten- tion of her cub, who was playing in the water. It was entertaining, and I watched from a short dis- tance for a few minutes.
A day later, however, Suki and I were walking a mile or so fur- ther down the river as part of our daily routine. She stopped to in- vestigate a scent she detected. As I waited, I could hear scrabbling noises coming up from the river. Yup- a few seconds later, the bear cub popped up just a few yards away from us. Suki was immedi- ately attentive, but I yanked her off her front feet and trotted her back to our car. Where there are young bears, there are mama,s
and no one ever wants to be be- tween the two!
Another night I recall was when my son was on vacation from college. He came home from his summer job, telling me he heard a strange noise in the woods behind our house. While it sounded similar to an owl, he swore it was not.; listening, I agreed. I went online to refresh my knowledge of bears and af- firmed it was indeed their mating season. So for some fun, I down- loaded audio of their mating calls and put my speakers in the front window. My son was not amused, especially when I then remembered my bird feeders were still outside and made him go out to get them. He grabbed a hammer for self-defense, which I thought was hysterical, but he wasn’t attacked so no harm, no foul.
A beautiful sighting occurred while driving along a back road, of course, passing a friend’s house. On the side of his pond, there was a clump of white birches. This lovely bear was out beneath it, digging up slugs for dinner, and I finally got to grab a good photo.
These are just a few of my en- counters, and perhaps I will in- clude more in a “Critter Patrol” column; those are my nightly rides to see what else is roam- ing the back roads like me. So far this spring, I’ve seen otters, many deer, a weasel, and a por- cupine (I love their little faces!). Also, coyotes, eagles, osprey, and hawks. Barred owls, ducks, the show-off Tom Turkeys, and even some gorgeous songbirds that I haven’t seen in years. But, my fa- vorite moose and bears? I’m still on the hunt. Stay tuned and wish me luck!
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