Leaf Chompers

Sandy Bear was walking along, minding his own business, when in the stillness of the early morning, he heard something (he has very good hearing). It sounded like chewing... chewing?? A bit of investigation (he is a CSI bear after all)... and he found a whole stand of aspen trees with half-eaten or whole-eaten leaves. Closer inspection revealed a whole bunch of creepy critters eating the trees alive!

Sandy wasn't going to get too close to these things. If they could eat whole trees... they might think that his beautiful green coat was a new variety of leaf... and take a few munches out of him.

There were a lot of these things crawling all over the trees and Sandy learned that they are called "cat-er-pillars"... Now he's not sure why there is yet something else named after felines... but in this instance, he's willing to let these things keep their feline-based named. He's also not sure what these things have to do with pillars... And then he hears that they are actually called "tent cat-er-pillars". What the heck? Where's the tent? Well... a few metres away (that's a few yards in other places)... Sandy saw this...

Yup, that's definitely a tent... but a very yucky one... Sandy can see all of the cat-er-pillar poop collecting in the tent strands. Is that what that weird smell is? This small tree is a Saskatoon Berry tree... and Sandy is not pleased, NOT pleased at all, that the cat-er-pillars are destroying the future berry harvest... He tries out his best bear growl... "grrr"... But the cat-er-pillars must be hard of hearing and just kept munching away.

Learning Patience

Sandy Bear has been seeing so many flowers in the last few days! Strangely enough, they all seem to be yellow - dandelions, buttercups, star asters, (and don' forget the skunk cabbage)... Sandy's beginning to wonder if Canada only has yellow flowers! Yes, there are red tulips... but tulips come from Holland... and he knows that his friend Hammie Hamster in Holland has different coloured flowers. But what about Canada? Well, today, Sandy discovered white flowers... and on a shrub, high off the ground. Now that is different!

After a bit of a scramble, Sandy got a closer look at these flowers... and they are very pretty... but why are there flowers on bushes?

Well... according to Sandy's mama... these flowers will make... berries! Berries? As in Bear-ies? Nope, not bear fans... or even little bears... these are fruit berries, and they are very, very yummy. Very yummy... They are called "Saskatoon Berries" in Canada. Elsewhere they are called serviceberries or shadberries or juneberries... The berries can be made into pies or jellies or syrups or liqueurs or... practically anything. Sandy would love to taste some... right now... but is told he'll have to wait until "Summer". Maybe his friends can tell him if berry pie is worth the wait?

Little bear wants a name!

Ok... little bear has put his little foot down. He's meeting all of these new friends, Jerry and Ben, Hammie the Hamster... and he's wondering how come he doesn't have a name, like they do! Now, little bear is not even 6 months old, and sometimes Mama's and Papa's take a while to name their little ones... but little bear has had enough... and he wants to be involved as well!

So... after much deliberation and review of "name-sites"... and after tossing out various options (Xavier, Paddington, Tom, Patrick, Sebastian, Bartholomew, Rocky, etc)... little bear has settled on a name... (thank goodness)... or rather, several names. In true adventuring bear fashion, he has decided to go with Alexander Mackenzie Bear... but he'll use Sandy for short (because his fur has a sandy colour to it)...

Little bear likes the fact that there was an adventurer named Alexander Mackenzie, who explored Canada!

Lost in the Woods

Little bear is heading back home today after another whirlwind adventure in the west. Things grow bigger out here than in flatland... the dandelions are bigger... the trees are bigger... and the horsetails are definitely bigger! Going for a walk in the winter-time was one thing... little bear could see through all of the bare shrubs and there was no undergrowth to block his view... but now... one little horsetail patch and little bear is... well... lost!

Yes... he is in there... he thought he would take a little walk through them and... well... he very quickly realized that the world is very different when everything is taller than you! Poor little bear...

But with a bit of help and by following the bright light of the setting sun, little bear managed to get his directional bearings back...

Holy mackerel! Whew... he made it out in one piece... but he's learned a thing or two... stay on the trail! Unless of course you have a compass... Mind you, this is also who adventures are created... For a moment in there, little bear could almost imagine he was in a Jurassic forest (horsetails have been around for 100,000,000 years -that's a looonnnggg time)... but then he thought of dinosaurs and pterodactyls and... well... he stopped imagining a Jursassic forest! But he did learn that horsetails are a good herbal remedy... and he thinks they would look good in his garden as well.

Huff and Puff

Little bear discovered the most beautiful flower today. It is so bright and beautiful... and a delightful shade of yellow. He immediately wanted to pick a bouquet to bring home...

But he learned that they don't do well once they've been picked... and can actually turn little bear paws brown with the milk from their stems. Poor little bear... but then he discovered what happens as these flowers age.

They get all old and shriveled and then... something wondrous happens... they become beautiful white and silver puffballs.

Aren't they beautiful? Little bear was mesmerized by these puffballs... and looked at them from every angle...

He could see that some of the puffballs had lost their little puffs... and he learned that if he blew really hard, the whole puff ball would just disintegrate and float away. So little bear huffed and puffed with all his might... but only managed to tip himself over backwards!

Little bear apparently doesn't have a lot of huff-n-puff capability... or maybe these puff balls weren't ready yet. Maybe little bear will start a garden back home... and these will be one of his first plantings!

Time for a break

Little bear has had so many adventures in the past few days... he's needing a break. It's time to sit down in his comfy chair... pull out a book and read some stories... maybe about the Berenstein Bears... or Big Ben... or... well, there are just so many great bear stories out there!

Although... little bear has recently heard about "honey" from his pals Jerry and Ben... and he's wondering what this stuff is... what is "honey"? Hmmm... maybe he needs to read Winnie-the-Pooh first...

Pen Pals!

Ooohhh boy... little bear has had an amazing adventure! He is so excited, he can hardly sit still. A few days ago... he was on another plane (headed west this time) and had a layover in a big airport. There are never any bears traveling through the airports it seems... and little bear was feeling a tad lonely...

So... he decided to do some searching on the internet and social networking sites... there might be some other bears out there. Maybe?

He did find some little bears on Facebook... but they seemed to be fairly prissy bears, just hanging around coffee shops. Not an adventurous bear to be seen! And then, he came across a blog site that was old and out of date... with little bears hanging off of Christmas trees... which didn't look very adventurous either. But... but... there was a link for "Jerry and Ben (Tales of 2 Bears)"... Little bear clicked that link and... fell over backwards in astonishment!

Oh my goodness!! "The Many Adventures of Jerry and Ben"... little bear couldn't quite contain himself. He wanted to be friends right away... but had to get mama to type for him because he was all thumbs. And a day later... there was a response to one of little bear's adventures... and then little bear posted something on their blog...

Oooh... little bear has pen pals... very well-dressed pen pals too... Little bear now wants to know why he has to wear a winter hat and boots and pants and jacket all the time (Canada gets snow even in July and August). More importantly though... little bear now wonders why Gerry and Ben have names and he doesn't... oh dear!