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THE 2008 SEASON HAS BEGUN

July 13,2008
The Dragonlady was in the screened porch @8:30 a.m. enjoying this gorgeous Sunday morning and heard some rustling noise in the woods. It's a bit louder than the sound of squirrels running around the bushes but muter than bear coming through.
A couple minutes later a beautiful bobcat emerged from Sandburg. I quickly snapped a couple of pictures before it disappeared into the next vacant lot. Hopefully the rabbits will stay away from my yard since the bobcat marked its territory as it walked across my backyard. Vivian Adams (aka The Dragonlady)Scenic Drive

July 5,2008 This is a very unwanted neighbor. Jessica (Mom) went out to water some plants at the side of our house this morning. As she went to water one of the plants she observed an object that did not seem too friendly.
I am no expert on snakes. However, this critter resembles a timber rattlesnake. I was not going to get any closer to get a more positive ID. I am sure we have had other visitors to BVCA at times. I guess they have never read our covenants or declarations and I am sure that they have not paid any attention to our Yellow Book. Ron Buono

June 26 at 7:40 pm we were returning home to 104 Inwood Court when we spotted a mother bear and her two cubs in our court. When they spotted us they ran into our neighbors the backyard. The mother bear stopped, turned and looked at us then she and her two cubs ran into the woods. LaVonne McKay , Inwood Ct

June 10,2008 I spotted a rattle snake at the bottom of my driveway as I drove home around 5:15 p.m. I tried to run over it but missed, it slivered into the woods. I quickly changed into protective clothing (tall rubber boots, long pants, thick gloves).

Armed with a shovel I went hunting for the snake. I found him, it's tail rattling. The ground was uneven and there were shrubs in the way. I wasn't sure how quick can rattle snake strike so I chickened out and settled with taking a picture instead. I killed several copperheads before but they move very slowly. I shall be extra careful when I venture out into the yard. Vivian Adams (aka The Dragonlady) Scenic Drive

June 2, 2008 I discovered a 22-24 inch copperhead in a corner of our garage at 3:20 PM Sunday afternoon. First I noticed my mouse trap was tripped. A few inches in back of the spring trap is a black plastic mouse bait box that contains poison. It has a pass through hole and a separate compartment for the poison. Terminix refills it periodically. Fortunately I looked around carefully before reaching to pick up the mouse trap with my hand. There are several shovels in that corner so most of the snake's body was hidden. The snake had part of his body through the plastic bait trap. His head was pointed right at the sprung trap. It was waiting for a mouse.

After moving the shovels, I found that he had completely curled up in the plastic box. I pushed the box out of the garage with a walking stick and about 30 feet away. Finally, I filled a bucket with hot water, picked up the plastic box with a "Grabber" and dumped him in. He was out of the bucket in a matter of seconds, whereupon I dispatched him with a long handled shovel. That is the first copperhead I have ever seen in Kenmure. The colors and markings are very distinctive and he would be very hard to see in the leaves. He or she was about one inch in diameter.

Copperheads do not get very big in this area according to information and pictures I got via the Internet. Thirty inches would be a big one. So, this was an adult or near adult. I will be a lot more careful around the garage after this, particularly in dark corners where stuff hides things.
Ron Davis 109 Fawncrest Court

May 29,2008 A visitor to the Housman residence on Tarnhill at approx.6PM. We have learned he did not check in at the gatehouse before entering.

May 14, 20088:50 PM below the rock wall behind the McKay's home at 104 Inwood Ct. The bears headed east down the hill toward the horse corrals. They look to be the same ones described in yesterdays report.

May 13, 2008 At 10:25 AM today I was coming down Kenmure Dr. from Elmridge when I spotted a large black animal and two very small black animals in Gerry Ashbeck's driveway at 312 Kenmure Dr. They might have been starting to cross Kenmure Dr. They ran back up toward Gerry's house and when I stopped at the base of the driveway the mother bear was eyeballing me from about 50 feet away, in the woods on the left side of the driveway. She looked quite large, perhaps 200+ pounds. The cubs may have been up a tree. I didn't see them nor did I stick around for more than a few seconds. Submitted by Ron Davis

April 25,2008 A bear was in Johnny Pace's driveway on Poplar Loop Drive as I walked by around 5:40 p.m. It was standing close to the road, besides the Pace's cars that were parked outside. We had eye contact and I walked away calmly. Vic (Bob & Susan Brown's Belgian shepherd) was sitting by the Brown's open garage door. I was afraid that Vic will bark and the bear will come to investigate. Fortunately Vic was uncharacteriscally quiet and I kept going without looking back. Submitted by Vivian Adams (aka the Dragonlady) Scenic Drive

April 18, 2008 At approximately 8:10 this evening we looked out our kitchen window and saw a large black bear walking across our neighbors' drivway. After about ten seconds he/she ambled down the hill. This sighting occured between 164 and 166 Overlook Drive. , 2008 Burt Weissman

February 8, 2008 Apparently the bears have arisen with the warm weather at least temporarily. We left the bird feeders out and the type of damage, (bending of a 3/4 inch steel rod and carrying of one large feeder over to the flower bed), just has to be something that big. Also, the black thistle feeder was not touched, another indication of bear favoritism. Virgil Wagner 112 Scenic Dr Inwood CT