You know I live with bears ambling through the yard on a regular basis, right? I love and respect them, but I am ready for them to go nighty-nite now. And although I see them less at this time of year, they are still not asleep. Many bears start their long winter's nap in early October, but if the weather is warm, the big guys will stay up accumulating fat (up to 40 pounds a week) until the cold really sets in.We have had some really cold nights on the mountain already and that freak October snowstorm that lasted for days before finally melting; but the bears have not gone down. How do I know?
Garbage.
Bears eat garbage. Even though the township I live in got a grant to provide every household in bear alley with 2 screw-top bear cans; people do not use them. There are flyers all over town advising us on “How to Live with Bears”. The first item on the list is Do NOT leave your garbage out. Still, I drive to work on garbage day to find garbage bags ripped open and their contents strewn all over the road. You would think that would only need to happen once, before the light bulb would go on.
OK. The cans are heavy, do not have wheels, and the screw top is a pain. But they are made that way for a reason. Please, use them if you have them. If you did not get one, the local feed store has them for sale.
I cannot start feeding the birds until the bears go to sleep. The bears will not go to sleep as long as there is a steady food source and the weather is moderate. There will be a steady food source as long as people leave out their stinkin’ garbage.
Ok. I am done ranting now. Thank you for letting me vent.
2 comments:
You can't compost kitchen scraps either. That is a bear magnet.
Vent away! Educate! Teach! Put garbage out of reach of your children and your bears! An easy solution, really, so we can all live on this increasingly crowded planet.
Good post.
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