Surprise!!

Late last evening, about 11pm, Ellen and I heard an unfamiliar cry of an animal outside in the woods east of the house. It was a short, raspy cry, at about 5-6 second intervals, and went on for some time. At one point, I went out on the deck to hear it better, and it seemed to be fairly close and moving up the mountain. I came into the house and thought maybe I could get a recording of it with the phone. By the time I got the phone, it seemed very close by, and before I knew it, I heard footsteps on the deck! It was big! What was it? I turned on the lights that illuminate the deck, and OMG!  There was a black bear right outside the door! It was a small bear, the size of a large dog. It was startled by the light and pretty quickly turned and ran off  the deck, but   not before we got a good look. We couldn’t believe it! We actually saw a bear 🐻 on our deck!  I have no idea what drew it up on the deck. There was no food there. No bird feeder. And why was it crying earlier? Amazing!