More bugs… Oh, and bears.

Thar's a Bear

We had a wonderful short vacation in the Smoky Mountains last weekend. Four nights in a cabin called “Nature’s Haven.” Very nice, well, except for the bears.

We saw the first bear on our second night in the cabin. A juvenile who looked a little rough around the edges.

Younger bear leaving the trash bins

The third night we saw a very healthy bear… very close up. Our youngest, Gracie, was getting ready to go to sleep on the futon in our bedroom– the first floor bedroom that backed up to the driveway. We had just put her under the covers. She said she was going to look out the window for a while, to spot bears… and “Oh, there’s a bear right there.” she said matter-of-factly.

So Jim looked. Sure enough— not 5 feet out the window, standing in the driveway was a full-grown, healthy-looking bear. The next thing we heard was the stomp-stomp of someone running up the stairs to the deck, followed by muffled exclamations and the flash-flash of a camera.

Turns out my brother-in-law, Larry, had been standing in the driveway next to the bear right about the same time Gracie noticed the big furry beast. Larry turned, saw the animal and made a quick-step exit from  the driveway. Lucky guy. The bear just ambled off, perhaps enjoying the paparazzi.

The bears are having a good year in the Smokies. We had a wonderful time too for our long weekend: hiking, horseback riding and water-parking. If you go, just don ‘t let the kids play out on  the front stoop unattended.

mystery golden bug eggs

Back at home I was gratified to see my plants survived a very dry week with no watering.  I pulled more squash bug nymphs and eggs off the zucchini vines. Still no zucchini. I found new and even more interesting eggs (above) on the bean leaves. I am hoping these might be assassin bugs, or something more carnivorous. If they are, they’ll go right back into the garden. If not, they are doomed. Will let you know what hatches in our plastic water bottle.

Another critter that has been enjoying our backyard is a mole. This one is either very persistent and energetic, or has had a family and is now four or so moles. Samantha has been digging after the animal(s). They must smell really good because our yard is suffering from Samantha’s hunting.

Samantha's mole excavation

But the worst part is that mole(s) have entered my raised bed. I don’t know if it’s the digging around the roots, but my peppers are dying at the spot the mole exited. This spot is where I left a beer trap last week. When we returned, the mole had come up right under the beer trap. Maybe it was looking for the tasty slugs in the trap, or maybe it just wanted a beer with its dinner. Not sure, but I’m not happy.

dying pepper plants near mole mound in beds

So I went to Ace hardware looking for a solution. Poison was out of the question because of Sam and our edibles. So I brought home this “trap.” It might be more aptly named the “stabber.” Emma is not happy with this solution. There is hope. The mole has not triggered the mechanism yet. Emma is rooting for the mole.

mole trap is set

On a happier note, the sunny side-garden is flourishing with beans, a few tomato plants held up by the pole beans (I love this) and lots of creeping honeydew melon vines.

Sam and melon vines

beans stake the tomatoes

beans climb up window

delicious heirloom beans