I spend time, money, and labor at our recreational property so we have a place to play, hunt, and vacation.
It's about 30 minutes driving time from my home to the recreational property/cabin.

My neighbors who live less than 2 miles from my home right around the corner.
Today they were letting their dogs out of the house for a nature call.
One of the dogs started barking and she looked up and saw the visitor in the back yard and immediately called the dogs back inside their home.

IMG_20260409_211854 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20260409_211842 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20260409_211835 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Living my first 49 years in western NY ( about as different from NYC as you can get) and my last 20 before moving away on 6.5+ acres in the “ southern tier” we got bears all the time, I could shoot out the back window of my garage. Sad that the rest of NY has the albatross around its neck that is NYC. I figured when I built my house in the 1990’s that would be it, but NY forced me out to live in free America. Sad

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
One of the dogs started barking and she looked up and saw the visitor in the back yard and immediately called the dogs back inside their home.

Looks fluffy soft!
Probably wanted a belly rub.

Recently up from a long nap, looking for a serious meal. If no luck on the buffet, some birdseed will work for starters.

NY state is really beautiful country. If it wasn't for the politics I wouldn't mind living there.

Yeah, it's a shame. Lots of good people live in Blue States but no matter how far away from the city you live, your life is still made miserable by the politics. There is no escaping that.

I well know your pain. We left Washington state over 20 years ago and I am so glad we made that decision.

That's really cool. I think the bear population in NYS has increased in the last few decades. I've never hunted them but I've seen them on the land I hunt (about 30 miles south of Rochester).

Forty years ago we lived in the outskirts of the village of Owego, NY. Upstate is beautiful, and normal people live there. If it weren't for the city dominating the rural areas, I could be happy living there.

That's a beautiful specimen. Looks very healthy for just getting out of hibernation.

Growing up all my life in the greater Houston area, these bear sightings are fascinating.

Glad we don’t have them here because I know I would be tempted to feed them.
And I am sure that would not be good in the end.

Very cool to see, just blows my mind to see something like that in the back yard. I have had one deer, possums, field mice, hawks all pretty standard stuff.

None of them wanted belly rubs unfortunately.

First time I ever say a bear that had been hit by a car was on 287 not too far from NYC.

Here in north western Jersey we see them a lot. Its actually amazing how quiet they are when the walk.
I was walking with my daughter and I heard some noise in the woods thinking it was a squirrel or something like that. A guy riding his bike rode past me and said a bear just crossed the road after we had walked by it. Guess it wasnt hungry!

A mostly beautiful part of the state, if only it's location was different.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
That's a beautiful specimen. Looks very healthy for just getting out of hibernation.

Probably already ransacked a few dozen bird feeders.

every night when I go out to load the wood furnace, I turn on the porch lite and check the bird feeder before i step out.

Given the position of that Block, BooBoo seems well within range.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:

IMG_20260409_211835 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

That's a great photo!

New York is the best positioned state on the east coast. Under Pataki and Giuliani I will tell you NYC was the peak of human civilization.

Summer 2001 in NYC was the best it ever was.

That’s a big bear. And a beautiful part of NYS. I’m at the far opposite part of the state, and it can be just as beautiful in other ways being surrounded by water and farmland. That’s the only thing that keeps me here in this commie state.

Our security cameras record black bears walking through our yard frequently, sometimes three or four nights a week. We are in a gated community adjacent to Orlando, maybe 50 yards from the city line.