Another wildlife incident

I may have to turn this into a nature blog. Today, I watched a ruby-throated hummingbird slam into a window and crash to the ground. The little bird, a female, lay still in the grass, with her eyes closed. One of her wings looked bent and twisted and her tailfeathers were splayed out. I picked her up carefully and folded her wing in to her body. I could feel her heart beating, about a zillion times a minute. She blinked her eyes but didn't struggle at all. After a few minutes, she lifted her head up; I opened my hand and she buzzed off, seemingly as good as new. What a gift! 

Thanks to "Miss Mouse" for the photo. 

Face to face

I'm posting this woodcut (done a couple of years ago) as an illustration of an exciting incident I had last night. Just after dark, I stepped outside the back door. I was a couple of feet away from the corner of the house and saw an animal just coming around from the other side. I kind of gasped and the animal huffed and turned around. I ran in the house and turned on the floodlight out front, thinking I'd seen a big dog or something. There was a full-grown black bear, just crossing over the driveway! My knees knocked for awhile. I've seen quite a few bears over the years, but never as close as 2-3 feet. Whew!