The bear won!

Got to the oasis around 8 AM to discover the seed feeder barrel destroyed beyond repair. The bear had snapped off the T-post. If you look closely you can see the cracks in the concrete around the stub of the post.

While I was photographing that I heard a snort, like a startled deer makes, back in the woods. When I walked back there I got a glimpse of a huge bear disappearing into the arroyo. I started to follow in hopes of getting a photo but chickened out.

About thirty minutes later I spotted the bear in the woods area of the oasis. Still had the bridge camera in hand so snapped a couple of shots as best I could.

                            

I decided to walk around the thicket between us and try for a better photo. When I got to where he was more in the open, he reared up and snorted while moving his paws like he was threatening me if I didn't back off. At that second, I panicked. I knew not to run, but did it anyway. He didn't follow. I went to the house and got a gun which I carried around while watering and picking peaches. A couple of times I thought I heard him, but didn't see him again.

Looking at the photos, keep in mind that he was 10-15 feet away from those chairs even though it looks like he's right beside the one. That's because of the telephoto lens effect. And he's on all fours when I took these, so imagine how huge he was, towering over the chair even though he's way back from it. I tell you, I'd rather get bitten by a rattler than attacked by that bear.

I picked all the peaches in hopes he won't break any more limbs on the tree (two so far), then headed to town to start drying them. While I watered a few things that needed it worst, I saw a lovely fresh Neon Skimmer, but couldn't get close enough for a good photo.