I live in a part of Los Angeles that used to have a substantial bear population that has since all but disappeared, so my recent wildlife sightings in the neighborhood have given me not a small amount of joy:

Initially they seemed pretty shy, but recently the bears have been opening up. They’re quite polite:


One has even moved into my neighborhood.

At first I thought that these new neighbors might be the solution to my recent earwig house-infestation problems, since I know bears like to eat grubs and things, but then I realized that it’s a little presumptuous of me to start thinking about what the new neighbors can do for me. Also, they seem to be busy with a lot of other hobbies. Like art appreciation.


Maybe I should just invite them over for a Memorial Day barbecue instead. They may be the only guests who don’t mind the earwigs that are sure to be in the potato salad.
UPDATE 5/26/09 – The polite bears on Glendale Blvd. are now gone (curse you, new metal rollup gates), but there is more information about the bears and their human creator on the Corralitas Red Car Property blog – following some other links will get you to more bears. Hooray – more bears please!