Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Bears are Awake...

...and they're hungry. Sometime between 6:00 pm and midnight, a black bear found our bird feeders. It's too dark to see just how much damage it did, but the feeder pole is bent to the ground, the finch feeder has chew marks on it and the metal cage of suet it empty. I'll post better pictures once the sun comes out.

We'll have to start bringing in the feeders at night from now on.



Now that it's light outside, I got a few more pictures.

When I came back inside, Nancy was watching some TV show, on the National Geographic channel, about killer black bears in a Provincial Park in Canada.


As the art work hanging on the wall behind our couch says...

I guess it's the start of spring.


Oh, it's snowing again too...

15 comments:

  1. Wanna make sure all your doors are locked up tight at night time. You wouldn't want one of those in your house.

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    1. We make sure everything's closed at bed time. I don't want to wake up and find one going through the cupboards in the middle of the night!

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  2. That's not good. How do you handle your garbage cans? In the garage?

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    1. We keep the garage doors shut unless were outside. We keep the garbage in the garage.

      Last year, we had them walking through the yard at all hours of the day and night. One day, I walked out to the wood pile and was wearing a black t-shirt... One of them was at the tree line in the backyard, and when he saw me he stood up and watched me. I know they're only black bears, but it's still unnerving to have them check me out like that..

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  3. When I looked into moving to Ashland WI I was told about how you have to live with bears and wolves. The "inconvenience" was not the problem for me- it was the intimidation. Considerable intimidation. I could never live in your area.

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    1. That's a great thing about the USA, your challenges are dependent on where you live. In the south east, it's mild winters but humid and hot summers. It's much dryer in the west, but water can be an issue. Up here, the summers are great, but winter and wildlife can be killers. It's too populated out east for my tastes. I'll stay where I'm at and check my back while in the woods.

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    2. I'm quite happy that there are good people like you to populate, love and take care of that area of WI. I don't want you to move.

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  4. A sure sign of Spring indeed. I always feed bad for them that they are so hungry and it is hard for them to find grub so they turn to the feeders.

    They can make one heck of a mess though can't they?

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    1. I'm sure they're hungry and yes, they rip through a feeder like it's made of paper. It's OK, that pole had been bent over too many times already, it's time to replace it. We've also learned not to buy the $$$Droll Yankee$$$ finch feeders. The cheap ones work just as well and none of them are bear proof!
      This morning the squirrels are looking at the damage and wondering WTH????

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  5. Only had one year where they bent over a couple of feeder poles, but that was enough. Now we stop feeding the birds at the end of March for that very reason. And what the bears don't get at the raccoons will, so it's a no-win situation. And yes, the squirrels are not happy.

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    1. This is our third spring up here in the woods. The first year, the bears didn't come around much. The house had been vacant for 2 years before we got here so there had been no feeders for them to raid.It took them a while to find us. So this is really only the second spring the bears have been an issue. We'll get new feeders and only leave them out in the day light.

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  6. The bears are awakening... it must be spring. They aren't in a good mood, eh? Bummer, how they ripped apart the feeders.

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    1. I think they're a little grumpy and hungry! They spent most of the winter sleeping and haven't had much to eat since last fall..... I'd be unhappy too.

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  7. well i think you can keep the bears up there thanks
    thats the one thing i would worry about if i was to camp up there somewhere

    i will stick to our snakes and spiders lol

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  8. and sorry to hear it is snowing again and delaying your ride time once more

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