You think you have problems? Look who I am sharing my neighborhood with!

The young male grizzly bear weighed maybe 500 pounds. Over the summer, he scarfed down salmon and ate moose. He spent a few breathless nights chasing bliss with a brunette sow deep in the mountains.

A story from deep in the Alaska wilderness? Not quite.

Almost entirely unseen, Bear 208 roamed the streets and parks of Alaska's largest city over much of last summer and early fall, from East Anchorage across the Hillside to Turnagain Arm. He crossed Tudor Road into densely populated neighborhoods at least once, the movement tracked by a global positioning system device on a collar around his neck. But except for snacking on a few domestic sheep in a South Anchorage back yard and raiding a bit of dog food, the bear, 5 or 6 years old, spurned human edibles in favor of silver and king salmon in local streams.

And he had friends.

Go ahead and click on the map that shows where the bears roam. Then click bear 208. That is my neighborhood! And apparently his buddy, Bear 207 lives in my hood as well.

Have you ever seen one of these animals up close? I have. It is an amazing feeling to be standing there and feeling yourself dropping down the food chain. For a human I am pretty strong. For a bear I am an insignificant Nancy-Boy. My only hope would be to turn sideways and lodge in its throat. Die you furry bastard!

I actually did see tracks in my yard two weeks ago that I convinced myself were not bear tracks. Wrong again!