Bears Do Know What's in the Can

While I was chatting with Sissy this morning on the phone, a black bear sauntered into the backyard heading straight to where I hang the bird feeders in winter. It must be the same one that has chewed on my feeders in the past. By the time I grabbed my camera, it had moved on. The odd thing was that it was 9 am, late for bears to be about.

Then on my way home from the market this afternoon, I saw one making a beeline to a bear can on the side of the road a few block from the house. The bear reared up and pushed it over and was rolling it around. I inched up in the car and took this picture through the open passenger side window. What you can't see is that the bear was panting, it was noon on a hot summer day, why is this guy not holed up somewhere out of the heat?

The rumors are true--we have bears

You hear rumors, you know. At this time of year everyone up here on the mountain gossips about them. I hear it at the grocery store while I dawdle in the vegetable section. The neighbor crosses the road as I work in the flowerbeds to tell me what he has heard. Emails fly around too. Someone always knows someone who…. But when it hits the paper, with photos, you know there is something to the story.

Last week a 726-pound black bear was trapped a few miles down the mountain from my house. The local residents complained because someone over there was feeding them. Fish and Game tranked, weighed and released him. One article said they treated a nose injury while another said he was “aversely conditioned” to discourage him from returning to the area for food. What does that mean? Was he admonished severely with a shaken finger; spanked; shot with rubber bullets as he staggered away? Why all the fuss about this bear? His size. Most of our bears are teen-bears 250-300 pounds. At over 700 pounds, he was a big’in and therefore presumably scarier. (I saw a 800 pounder over on Gould Road a few years ago that was soooo big, his belly was almost dragging the ground. Truly a sight to behold—from the safety of the car.)

There are flyers and signs everywhere to remind us about how to live in “bear country”. The free weekly paper publishes helpful tips every spring. Nowhere does it say feeding the bears is OK. In fact there are laws against it. There is a concerted effort to minimize contact. We have all been issued 2 special screw-top heavy plastic “bearcans” to use for garbage and advised not to put it out the night before pick-up. We are told to be aware of our surrounding and not to be stupid. But apparently some people are.

It is hard to forget that we are part of their world and not the reverse when they amble through our backyards or take the path of least resistance and stroll down the street. I have them in my yard not infrequently at dawn and dusk. They have destroyed numerous birdfeeders when I have forgotten to bring them in. They have pooped in my yard, drank from my birdbaths and scared the bejezzus out of me when I come down to the kitchen and find one looking in the window.

Yes, I live in bear county. I am careful when I am outside. I make noise so they know I am around. I do not compost my veggie parings, although it kills me to throw them out. I have made adjustments.

I love to see them and stare with hushed awe as black on black one materializes in the gloom to cut across my lawn nose quivering to go about her day.

Do you see what I see?

I happened to glance out the kitchen window to see one of our big black neighbors. I looked around frantically for the camera (which is always in some other room), remembered it was upstairs in the library, dashed up the stairs, grabbed the camera and pounded back down to see it moving off through the trees. I zoomed and got this lousy shot. But you can see it's a bear, right? Ha! I am vindicated. All you non-believers out there, honestly.

Bear Scare

My first year on the mountain, I was unaware of "living with bears". One day that Spring, after a harsh winter, I went to fill the feeders and found that apparently a massive bruin had tried quasi-successfully to raid them. He had snapped off the metal posts on a tube feeder and pulled a sturdy steel hanger on a metal feeder out of whack. He made off with the suet cage completely.

Scary, frankly.

Two days later, I came down to the kitchen in the morning and there he was nosing around the seed debris. He came very close to the house and pooped in the yard. "Oh no", I thought. "I hope he is not marking his territory or something." The ultimate in scooping....

Since then, I only put the feeders out in the depth of winter after I am sure the bears have gone down. I put them away again in mid-March. Since I feel bad about leaving the birds in the lurch, I put peanuts on the deck during the day for the avian throngs. (I have also been known to use whatever nuts I have in the freezer-walnuts, almonds, pecans.) Titmice, Blue Jays, Crows, Nuthatches, even Chickadees love them. Did I mention squirrels? Whoeee, it’s like they died and went to heaven. All that and a heated birdbath.

The cats love watching all of the drama on the deck. There is squabbling, chase scenes, robbery and flirtation. Pretty much the same as daytime TV. They line up in a row like they are at the theater. The tips of their tails twitch. They chatter their teeth. Sometimes when they cannot stand it anymore they will jump up and paw at the window. Yup, they love watching the birds and squirrels. And the birds and squirrels love watching them.

And so, the days are getting longer and warmer. Very soon my ursine neighbors will be peering out of their dens and venturing into the skunk cabbage patches to purge themselves of their sluggish winter digestion and then looking around for a snack. But not at my house. My feeders are down and in the garage.