Bear Surprises Weber At Breakfast

Courtesy Photo Bill Weber was surprised to have a visitor on a recent morning. The black bear found Weber's feeder, which is meant for birds and deer. The black bear decided to have breakfast, then wandered off into the woods after Weber yelled at him. Weber lives off Highway NN, between Anderson and Goodman.

Courtesy Photo Bill Weber was surprised to have a visitor on a recent morning. The black bear found Weber's feeder, which is meant for birds and deer. The black bear decided to have breakfast, then wandered off into the woods after Weber yelled at him. Weber lives off Highway NN, between Anderson and Goodman.

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Bill Weber's breakfast guest was uninvited and almost rude. Since the visitor was fairly big, however, Weber let him eat breakfast before running him off.

Weber sat down on a recent morning to do a little reading, in between watching the birds at the feeder. On this morning, however, Weber saw something that looked a lot different than a bird. A black bear had wandered up to his feeder and decided to have breakfast.

Weber has his chair positioned in his living room so he can sit and watch the birds. When he saw the visitor, he had to take off his reading glasses to properly see, from a distance, exactly what was taking place in his backyard.

Weber is used to seeing various squirrels, birds and an occasional deer dine at the feeder. It's the first time, however, he's seen a bear.

Weber retired here from California to be closer to his brother, Mike. He's lived at the same place for 16 years, off NN Highway between Goodman and Anderson. He's never seen that kind of wildlife up close and personal.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "It's pretty rare."

Weber woke up his 32-year-old grandson, who was visiting from California. They took some photos and watched in awe as the bear enjoyed breakfast at their expense.

"He acted like he wasn't scared of us at all," Weber said.

The bear, which featured more brown coloring than black, finally took a few steps after Weber yelled at him. Then, the bear walked into the woods.

Weber's son lives in California and, upon seeing the photo of the bear, first thought it was someone playing a joke. He thought someone had dressed up in a costume.

"I told him, 'Mikey, he was a big bear,'" Weber said.

The breakfast provider doesn't plan on taking down his feeder, or changing the feed. Instead, he's just glad he was able to see wildlife at its best.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said.

General News on 07/05/2018