Try a large piece of chocolate.

Valerian tea. If you have a South American grocery or bakery near try the tornnjil tea with valerian. It truly works miracles. It may be available at natural food stores. Mixed with the Toronjil (pronounced toronheal) the valerian loses its medicinal taste. Valerian is the natural version and base for valium. Many slow deep breaths and remember you are safe now. What happened is terrifying and now you will find all the safety tricks that exist and deploy them.

Sea I also live in the woods and deal with all of these creatures..I love it. My scariest encounter was a few years ago a coyote came within several feet of me, he was doing a low growl and staring at me..he was warning me..I was sitting at the time so I slowely stood up making myself look big and in a loud form voice I said..go home..he growled a bit more than turned and walked away. I completely understand your fear my dear. I think the best thing you can do Is some research on what to do when you come face to face with bears or other wild life..but remember they are not out to get you, they are probably only going to attack if they feel threatened or their young are threatened. Once you understand them you will not be so fearful. You are sharing their home, respect it and them and you will be fine....they really are wonderful and beautiful creatures.

Thank you all for your help, suggestions and ideas. !!

I don't have any prescription sedatives, but it feels like this might a reason to keep some on hand.

I got this from the Mexican market hmorton based on your recommendation. And you are right. I am safe. Deep breath.

They didn't know what that other ingredient you mentioned was, so I got this. I'm having some now. It's different tasting. Thank you for the suggestion. I had a chauffeur so everything was ok.

MizLizzie,

What's happening at your mom's house sounds like what happens over in this area. We had a wildfire 10 years ago that displaced a lot of bears. They took up residency in my neighborhood and have stayed. Ugh. They have stayed because of better trash because of high number of vacation rental homes in my neighborhood. Vacationers don't care about trash or bear safety. I can't believe we didn't know about bear spray canisters. I like the idea of having them strategically placed. Great idea. An order to Amazon is happening. Thank you.

I realized that coming face to face with a bear is a lot different than seeing one in the yard. Good grief. I hope we never surprise each other like that again. In case anyone is wondering, his breath was neutral. Not bad, not minty fresh.

While at the Mexican market for the valerian tea, I bought this as well

I've not used the Tide powder from Vietnam before. I hope it smells like old Tide! Clearly, I'll be ok once I get these fight or flight hormones outta here. : )

Congrats, SEA SEA. You are clearly back in the game! That is a sweet stash.

Vacationers don't care about trash or bear safety.

If they don't, they should. We vacationed in a national park not long ago, in an area where there are lots of bears, and warnings were clearly stated and posted in every single room of our rental home. I kid you not! I guess the owners wanted to avoid a potential lawsuit in case a careless vacationer was attacked.

Our trash cans were in an enclosure built of 2x4's which was locked, and it was very stout. We carefully followed instructions not to leave any trash outside a trash can. One night we heard a huffing noise outside the window near the trash cans, and a mama bear was there with a cub who looked to be about half-grown. She had torn through those 2x4's <gasp!> and her claws were stuck into a Coke box. We didn't know where that came from; it could have blown into our area from a neighboring home, as there were strong winds that night.

The mama was upset because her claws were stuck, she couldn't get them out, and she was standing upright roaring, trying to get the box off. Some small children with us were very scared and crying, and their parents took them to another room to comfort them. The rest of us were very glad that a wall was between us and the bears!

The next morning, there was no sign of bears, but our trash cans were a huge mess. The locks on them were gone (!) and of course every scrap of food was, too. I had no idea they could do that. <shudder>

Sea Sea, I'm glad you're safe. I've always heard that one should punch an attacking bear in the nose, but I hope never to find out, and I am really glad the one you faced went away peacefully. If I were you, I'd probably have taken a hot bubble bath and had a mug of hot chocolate while soaking. :-)

After we had bears my neighbor bought me a cow bell at Tractor Supply. It is super noisy and should scare them away. I never saw one after I received it (perhaps it was lucky). But I've left it for the new owner. Noise seems to scare them away.