Look! Over there. It's a bear!

 

Look over there! It's a bear!

We were all preparing to have a leisurely late morning breakfast on July 21st when Inga exclaimed, "There's a bear out there!" 

A young black bear was loping through the fresh mown field in front of the house and was heading for the apple orchard on the south side of the house. We all ran to the viewing deck to watch a black bear coming to breakfast with us. I have been seeing deer eat the fallen apples, but this guy was unexpected and more prodigious than the deer, he could climb the apple tree and knock down fresh apples. Unlike the deer he didn't have to wait for the wind to blow and for the fruit to fall. A bear gets what a bear wants.

Maurice the Black Bear loping across my cut field

Maurice foraging for apples and climbing the trunk to bob and bop some low-hanging fruit

Everybody had their camera out for the photo safari. 

Now, I have apples and plums in my orchard, no peaches. But watching this young bear climb and shake the apples from my tree, the lyrics from the Steve Miller Band song, The Joker, came to mind: 

Some people call me the space cowboy yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
'Cause I speak of the pompitous of love...

Your the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Oee, baby, I'll sure show you a good time

I christened our breakfastmate right then and there, Maurice. He really loves my peaches [apples], wanna shake my tree...

Maurice had his fill of fruit after about 40 minutes and wandered off into the woods, as bears are want to do. We headed back inside to our breakfast table where we spoke of the pompitous of love -wooweee, (I'll sure show you a good time).