Our neighbors, the bears

Seven houses from ours, a bear stopped by during the night.  I don't know if anyone saw him but we all know he was there because he left his mark.

Apparently, after swimming across the canal, he felt the need to sharpen his claws. The lowest marks were close to the ground,

while the highest marks and broken limbs were over my head. 

The guy next door to here said that in the past he watched a bear swim across the canal. When it got on solid ground he threw a can at it. It was unimpressed; reared up on its back legs and the guy decided to quit while he was ahead. Good decision; this may not be a huge bear but it's big enough. But I still want to see one.