2007 Bear Adventures

[MommyofSeven]

Last year my bear adventures ended up in several different posts, so I decided to start a thread this year.

 

Sadly, our bears have now become habituated. We have at least three different bears in town, and have since early June. They've figured out that town is an easier sort of food than foraging in the woods. It's unfortunate, because before, we only had them in town for about 4 to 6 weeks. Having them here now has put a curb on summer activities. We now have a 9 pm curfew for anyone under 18 unless accompanied by a parent. there's not much in this town for our teens to do, and hanging out at the park until fairly late was something they liked to do. We have a basketball court and it was not uncommon for them to be there until pretty late playing. Now they can't do that. Oldest DD's curfew had been dark, but now it will be earlier when she comes home.

 

There are bigger fears, though. Walking to your car at night can lead to a big surprise. Taking out your garbage at night or early am becomes an adventure, and our cans are only about 15 feet from the door. Dogs have to come in earlier. And instead of having to be vigilant about any livestock (chickens and rabbits are pretty popular here) for that 4-6 week window we will now have months of that. We have fairly heavy traffic in the summer-a lot of people from Texas own vacation sites here, so the likelihood that a bear will get hit by a car is much higher. Our annual festival, Aguilar Days, will probably have to end earlier in the evening. And my biggest fear is that someone will get trigger happy after losing an animal.

 

While I do enjoy seeing the bears from the safety of my home or porch, I am worried about their safety. While we are still in a drought, this year has been much better than years past, so they should be up the mountain, yet here they are, targets for some guy who forgets to bring his yappy little dog in at night and then it gets eaten, or some drunk jerk who decides to shoot himself a bear.

 

After going round and round with our apartment manager about possible bear mitigation steps last year, we were never allowed to do anything that could prevent them from visiting. As I said, I like to watch them, but they need to be up the mmountain. We were not allowed to build a bear proof shelter for our trash bins, and the apartments decided that having the big dumpsters that we could lock would be too much of a hassle. We have slightly mitigated the problem by attaching our trash cans to the fence, with bungee cords and ratchet straps. It doesn't cause a visual issue, so the apartment manager can't complain. One adult bear has tried, and hasn't been back. The bears can get the lid open, but the cans won't support thier weight (the big ones at least) so they can't climb in, and the straps prevent the cans from being knocked over.

 

All htat being done, we were woke up at about 5 am on the fourth of July by a yearling cub trying desperately to get into the can. I ran to the bedroom window, but the fence was in the way. About that time DH sat up, completely confused, and I whispered that we had a bear. I ran to the dining room and caught a peek of his cute little head and ears. I went in the bedroom to get the camera, went into the bathroom so he would'nt hear me turning it on, and went back to the dining room, DH said he was gone. Something spooked him, and he ran up the mountain near our apartment. He was adorable, and I really wanted to get a pic of him.

 

The thought occured to me that his weight might have been supported by the cans, and he could have gotten in there and then not been able to get back out. Guess I need to put DOW on speed dial, just in case, cause I'm NOT going out there to knock the can down so he can get out LOL.

 

On a more enterprising note, I'm going to have DH build a trash enclosure, and we will try to sell them.

 

I'll add more as more happens, and hopefully get some pics!

 

Mo7

[SueC]

I am not sure whether being that close would thrill me! Hope you all keep safe.

[Becca_Anne]

Yikes! Be careful

[Mt_Rider]

Yeah, have a care Mo7!!! Too bad some folks don't listen to practical reason....

 

I've been up in these CO Mts for over 10 yrs and this evening I actually saw a bear for only the 3rd time. Not that there haven't *been* others, unseen. This was a .....big one. Very long glossy sable fur. Very bulky, rolling muscles. Did I mention that it was a BIG one? Dog on porch (2nd floor) gave the alert but looked worried. I came out to see bear right there below but moving on up the hill. I literally shoved dog into the house and then ran out to porch with my camera. Sheesh, those things cover distance surprisingly fast! He wasn't running but already had crested the hill and disappeared. DH had slept thru a raging thunderstorm for an hour and a half this afternoon but he didn't sleep thru the dog's "I saw a bear!" barking. She was a little stirred up!

 

 

 

 

Did I mention that this was a b-i-g bear?

 

 

MtRider [rather getting tired of adventures lately....there was that coyote chase again this morning...MS overheating while holding horses for the farrier in the noontime sun.... storm....bear....I'm going to bed! ]

[Pigzzilla]

When I used to live in the mountains, we put a splash of ammonia in the bottm of the trash can and a little on the ground in front of it. The bears and other critters didn't care for the smell and stayed away.

[MommyofSeven]

i will try the ammonia, thanks piggy. How often do you reapply?

 

Mo7