instead of Uggs, mukluk boots

[goldfinch]

Picking bits from what others have posted. . .

In northern Minnesota black bears are common and I see them frequently. Even when I lived in the city come spring bears were everywhere. I had one friend who had a black bear come right into his screened porch when he was in the house. We have to be really careful with birdseed and garbage in all but the winter months. My understanding is that the farther north you go the more carnivorous the black bears become, because of lack of plant life.

One of my neighbors had a run in with a black bear over a deer she had killed. She and her husband ran off the bear. We have had a couple of black bear attacks on people, but no one has been killed.

I grew up eating venison and I still eat venison. I just had it in chili last weekend. My relatives all hunt. Our major deer predator besides humans is the timber wolf. Our deer hunt was down this year. One speculation is the high wolf population. Timber wolves are now a common sight. Our wolf population is high enough that locals who keep cattle or sheep now keep llamas to deter and fight off timber wolves and brush wolves. Our neighbor has not lost any sheep to wolves since he began keeping a couple of llamas. Not that it is a 100% solution, but it beats defenseless cattle or sheep. Data on success though is pretty good.

On the mukluk topic, I've worn mukluks for years. They are moose hide. I eat meat but I try to eat meat killed by those I know who kill animals as humanly as possible. I won't eat factory farmed animals.

My family home has a root cellar. Current temperature, 46 degrees. Good for keeping root vegetables and squash. This year, four wagons of squash:



FWIW