Wildersmith on the Gunflint: September 4

The weather outside turned frightful with the coming of September. After a fine fall preview for several days, summer bounced back to wring more juice out of me and the moose once again. August ended with a spectacular full “blueberry moon” over Gunflint land and lakes.

One night prior to the lavish lunar night, the area was tormented by a darkness-time series of thunderstorms. Lightning like an Independence Day celebration and a few deafening booms shook some of us right out of our slumber while causing the house to tremble.

Turned out the “bark” of the storminess was worse than the bite in terms of moisture as this neighborhood counted slightly over six-tenths of an inch. It was not much, but still appreciated.

Bear encounters have taken center stage in wildlife drama along the Mile O Pine. One such act took place at Wildersmith last week. Trying not to be one of those nuisance people who cause scary bear/human confrontations, the Smiths had not had any bear activity since the snow melted last spring. Suddenly a “Bruno” paid us a surprising and unusual visit just as we were feeling pretty smug about having not been bothered for several months.

The scene is set one evening near sunset. This household was having a quiet evening with newspaper and Kindle surfing. A clunking noise around the house caught my attention. Figuring it was sure enough a bear, I sprung from my chair to investigate the goings-on. A couple trips outside around the deck found nothing, so back to the reading.

Once again the thumping occurred and since the winds were buffeting the area, it seemed reasonable something was banging against the house. A further search of the grounds outside found no activity, so it’s back inside. More noise and then another excursion, only this time it’s farther out away from the house. I didn’t venture far when I turned looking up to see old “black Jack” staring down at me from the roof. Yes, the culprit was on my roof. It was at the opposite end of the roof from me and was obviously quite surprised, as was I. I quickly acted like a big bad bear myself with some roaring bellows sending the bear scaling down a nearby cedar tree. It was a medium-sized critter, maybe a two or three year old, that raced off into the forest not to be seen again. What it was doing up there, only the bear knows. Certainly nothing edible was up there. Guess curiosity must have gotten the best of it.

Curiosity captured me too, since “Br’er Bear” saw fit to tear some shingles off the roof while prancing and pawing around. It’s obvious this animal was about as bright as a five-watt bulb having an apparent appetite for crispy asphalt components.

Another Ursus encounter has been shared by a gal down the road. In this case she came upon a bear along her shoreline as it was completing a long distance swim from the Canadian side of Gunflint Lake. This is a good mile or so across, and I’m told Mr./Ms. bear was huffing and puffing as it scrambled up on shore. One has to wonder if it had a Remote Area Border Crossing Permit and/or Passport.

The big one didn’t linger long once reaching land as it high-tailed off into the woods without incident. A digital of “Bruno’s” aquatic exploits is included alongside my website column at WTIP.org under “Community Voices.”

On a winged note, a barred owl has been taking up part-time residence in a woodshed down along the Mile O Pine. It seemingly has some degree of comfort with human beings. A pesky red squirrel dispatched by a neighbor was placed in close proximity to the owl hang-out and was later observed being consumed by the hungry bird.

This interaction brings to mind a special time in Gunflint area history where iconic lodge owner, Peggy Heston, once befriended an orphan owl, and it soon adopted Peggy as its forever caretaker. Perhaps “Ole,” as it was named back then, is a distant relative to the recent Mile O Pine nocturnal bird. A picture of this striking new tenant is also attached to this week’s website column.

As we enter into this last big weekend of summer, don’t forget the annual pie and ice cream social on Sunday up at Chik-Wauk. The serving of sweet treats commences at 11:00 am and continues until 4:00 pm. The event is sponsored by the Gunflint Trail Historical Society as a fundraiser. A gift shop sidewalk sale will also be going on while local author John Henricksson will be on hand in the museum for book signing.

This is Fred Smith, on the Trail, at Wildersmith. Gold can be found in “them thar hills,” it’s “leaf peeping time!”