Bears....really!

If you know where we live, then you know that we are surrounded by 19 or so acres of pine trees. And when the weather is nice, we like to walk out there. Bruce keeps a clear path cut all around the perimeter, and it makes a nice place to take a stroll. But....we have bear. Is "bear" also plural? Or is it "bears"? I don't know, but whatever. We have black bear all over around this part of the state. People see them all the time right here around our house. And yesterday when I took a nice little stroll all by myself I got to the very back of the property, as far from our house, or civilization, as I could possibly be, where nobody could hear me scream (well, maybe....maybe not, but it IS way back there and its really isolated)...and suddenly I heard a loud crashing through the trees like something quite large was spooked and running away from me. It could have been a deer. We have loads of those too. But a few seconds later I came upon a huge, um, well a ginormous pile O' poop. And it was NOT from any deer, of that I am certain. Nor was it from the multitudes of bunnies we see all over the place. It looked more like an elephant had done its business there at the edge of the woods. I didn't imagine it. Bruce took a walk back there this evening and came back talking about the huge "pile" he saw on the path, too.

And now, I am spooked. Its where I like to walk. But is it safe? I mean, I realize there could be anything or anybody (thinking murderous axe wielding maniacs because I watch WAY too many scary movies) out there hiding in the trees. But the bear thing is NOT my imagination running away with me. They are real and they are out there. I am just trying to guesstimate the risk factor right now. I stay on the path, out of the trees. I walk in daylight. I read that black bears are people-shy and rarely attack humans. And still I am feeling nervous about being back there, especially by myself. Sometimes Bruce walks with me, but not always.......What would you do? I think I need to find a new place to walk.

ETA: After doing a web search of what bear... um, poop actually looks like (yes, I know its such an exciting way to spend an evening, right?), we have decided that it is definitely bear droppings. Or, as I learned tonight, known also as bear scat. Yay! I am already phobic of snakes. At this rate I might never leave my house again.