We have noticed a strong correlation between the ripeness of avocados and the amount of bear activity around the ranch. A couple weeks ago, we started seeing lots of traffic around one particular trail, so motivation was high to work a bear hunt into the next fogless evening.
The perfect evening presented itself last night, so we loaded up the Jeep and headed out. I jumped out to open the gate when we got to it, but then stopped for several moments trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I finally pieced together that a bicyclist had punched through one end of it before I unlocked it and we moved on.
We were about 45 seconds down the road before I realized I had a problem. Apparently, I had chosen to stand directly over a red ant nest while I played CSI, and they had just found their way up my boots and into my socks.
As they began biting, I started shrieking, quickly ripping off my boots… and socks… then pants.
After initially being quite startled, Dave was now laughing so hard that he was finding it difficult to drive, all the while cracking jokes at my expense.
By the time we arrived at the trailhead, the drama was over. While I was determined not to waste a perfectly beautiful night, I was also not so keen to put back on my ant-infested clothes. So I gamely shook out my boots and threw them back on, grabbed my binoculars, and walked out onto the ridge to scout the orchards below.
And instantly Dave coined the new phrase “bare hunting.” Of course, he was the only one lucky enough to see anything of interest.
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