It is puzzling that the black bears have become aggressive recently, given their previous inclination to retreat when confronted by humans. My theory is that winters are shorter and that means shorter hibernations and more active time spent consuming dwindling supplies of food. They love beech nuts but, when they exhaust the supply, they come down the hills toward human settlements.

Compared to 20 years ago, the edges of the forest have crept in on remote villages, as older people are not cultivating the fields further away that had been a boundary of sorts.

Once carefully cultivated, land is now left fallow, and the brush and grass that was cutback is flourishing while the abandoned mulberry tree patches have grown promiscuously wild.