Close Calls
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The other day I was doing my regular route on Kuffel Canyon Road, in the San Bernardino Mountains.  It was the third house in the route sequence.  I was approaching the meter on the front right side of the house, when I saw what appeared to be a humongous pair of very hairy rear legs hanging out of a trashcan.  At first I thought it was a very large dog, but then realized it was a bear.  I was only about 20 feet from it.  By the time I realized it was a bear; it had already seen me.  It had been eating out of the customers' trashcan.  Initially, I startled the bear and it began to run away from me.  In a short time the bear came upon a small fence and a stairway.  Suddenly the bear realized it was trapped, and I shell-shocked was just standing there watching.  I had never seen a bear so close-up before.  It was a beautiful animal.  Of course, it's probably safer to appreciate wildlife in a more secure setting like a zoo or on the television.  When the bear felt cornered by the small fence and the stairway, it turned back and stared at me just like bulls stare at the matador before they charge onto them.  At that moment I followed my instincts and ran towards my vehicle.  I was fortunate to have left my vehicle close by.  As I got into my vehicle, I could see the bear was slowing down as if it knew it could not outrun the vehicle.  I decided then to skip the houses along this street and come back later and maybe the bear would be gone then.  The rest of the day, I contemplated, " What if?"  What if, the bear had been a little closer?  What if, I had not seen it in time?  What if, I had stumbled and it would have jumped on me?  After an incident like this, one feels happy to come back home in one piece and see the smiling faces of our loved ones.  I was very fortunate.  After I got done with my two routes, I went back to the houses that I had skipped.  Just to be on the safe side, I drove into the driveway where the bear had been earlier.  When I realized that the bear was no longer there, I got out to read the meter and then I went to the door.  The customer responded, and I told her about the bear.  She acknowledged that she had noticed the trashcan had a big bite mark on the lid, she suspected it had been a bear.  She promised to keep the trashcan inside the house from now on.  I made sure I told the neighbors about the bear.  I put in a Z-code for that account, that reads, "Beware of bear", Just in case somebody else drops by that account sometime and unexpectedly finds a rather large looking animal that wants to "Bear It All".


Bear It All


The next time you meter readers go to the door to have the customer put her Rott away, make sure her windows are closed! I had a Rott jump out the window and come after me,(2nd time at the same address) luckily I managed to walk away safely, after beating it a couple of times. I did fall though but not completely. The customer was outside on the front yard just screaming as if the Rott was going to listen her.The XX pissed me off, and if
the customer hadn't been there, who knows what I would've done. Oh, i skipped the read...since the XX couldn't be contained. Anyways, becareful out there.  A.Rodriguez, San Bernardino Meter Reading.