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The dogs are so patient with us- they don't have a nice dry barn, and have been pretty wet lately, but are not complaining at all. And they continue to do their job amazingly well. One day I heard them bark, and then heard some rocks falling on the burned hillside. I looked among the trees and saw a big bear. It wandered slowly up the side of the hill and disappeared over the ridge into the neighbor's hay field. I was on my way to check the water supply screens, but since the bear was headed that direction I decided to wait until the next day when Bill could come with me. We normally see bears around late September- this one was a little later than usual, but probably just had it's fill of fruit from the orchards and was heading to the hills to find a nice cozy spot to sleep for the winter. Callie was the first to sound the alert that time- she's really coming along. And just a few days ago, she barked all night long. We couldn't figure out what was wrong- couldn't see any sign of predators or other problems. Then the next morning, I was outside and heard the unmistakable sound of a coyote yelping, very close by. All 3 dogs were barking like crazy, and it all went on for about 5 minutes. Then the coyote stopped, and all went back to normal. I never did see it- the bare hillside has lots of echoes now that the trees are gone, so it's hard to tell where sounds are actually coming from any more.