We were driving over by Auke Lake yesterday, and a big black bear ran across the road.  I yelled, "Nathan, you get to see your first bear!"  The bear scooted across the road into the bushes, so there was no photo opportunity, but it was rather exciting.  It was my second black bear to see.  I haven't seen a brown bear yet.

Of course, the bear was probably nosing around in someone's garbage, a big problem here.   In the Juneau empire, our local paper, there is a police and fire report, where they also list calls related to bears.   For the last week or so there have been several bear calls (well, the bears don't make the calls, I think you know what I mean).

A friend from work was telling me she had a bear come into her yard about a week ago.  He had visited before (as evidenced by a distinct "gift" he left on her deck).   This time he went over to the chest freezer, tied down by a large strap, and bent back the top corner like it was cardboard, and proceeded to go through the grocery items.  He tossed the new york steaks and corned beef, and instead dined on bagel bites.   The next day he came back for the tiramasu in the outside fridge.  Junk food bear...