OT: Bears

[JS]

In April we had a large bear hanging around our property for a week or so. First in 25 years of living here in Fairfield County.

We do a lot of wild bird feeding. I had seven feeders out on the deck, atop 8-foot PVC pipes, bracketed to the deck railing at various points. Also, a large metal bin with bags of bird seed inside.

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That slanted roof opens upward, but has latches. I woke one morning to find it pushed up from the middle into a tent shape, which freed the front doors. Seed bags broken into.

Was baffled. What could have the strength to do that? Maybe a big raccoon could have a go at it if he didn''t have to sit on the same roof he was lifting. Wife suggested a bear, which I thought highly unlikely after all these years of seeing none.

So I bolted down the roof. Didn't need it to open, given the front doors. A couple mornings later, doors hanging open anyway. Latches sprung, a heavy seed bag dragged halfway down the lawn, 40 yards or so.

So I brought the bags into the garage. Next morning several of the PVC pipes down, brackets broken, feeders violated.

OK, a bear. Nothing else could've done that.

That night, Mrs. JS saw him, casually walking (lumbering, she said) along outside the front door. Big. Longer than my long coffee table and waist high.

Pipes restored, but only one used for a while, and the feeders on that brought inside overnight. Now Mr. Bear seems to have moved on, but I'm still only using that one pole until November, when I understand he'll be sleeping in.

So now, we're seeing lots of reports on the news of bear sightings in Fairfield County. Greenwich a couple of days ago, Trumbull, etc. We didn't report ours. Didn't want him bothered by animal control or trigger happy neighbors or anyone else. He's welcome to the seed, but feeding him and repairing after his sloppy eating habits was a bit of a pain.

Friends living north of Hartford have been seeing them forever, but not down here. We do live on the edge of a forest, and my bird feeding was on the profligate side, so we were a must-stop on the chow hunting trail.

Why now? My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

 

[Golden Husky]

In April we had a large bear hanging around our property for a week or so. First in 25 years of living here in Fairfield County.

We do a lot of wild bird feeding. I had seven feeders out on the deck, atop 8-foot PVC pipes, bracketed to the deck railing at various points. Also, a large metal bin with bags of bird seed inside.

View attachment 67979
​

That slanted roof opens upward, but has latches. I woke one morning to find it pushed up from the middle into a tent shape, which freed the front doors. Seed bags broken into.

Was baffled. What could have the strength to do that? Maybe a big raccoon could have a go at it if he didn''t have to sit on the same roof he was lifting. Wife suggested a bear, which I thought highly unlikely after all these years of seeing none.

So I bolted down the roof. Didn't need it to open, given the front doors. A couple mornings later, doors hanging open anyway. Latches sprung, a heavy seed bag dragged halfway down the lawn, 40 yards or so.

So I brought the bags into the garage. Next morning several of the PVC pipes down, brackets broken, feeders violated.

OK, a bear. Nothing else could've done that.

That night, Mrs. JS saw him, casually walking (lumbering, she said) along outside the front door. Big. Longer than my long coffee table and waist high.

Pipes restored, but only one used for a while, and the feeders on that brought inside overnight. Now Mr. Bear seems to have moved on, but I'm still only using that one pole until November, when I understand he'll be sleeping in.

So now, we're seeing lots of reports on the news of bear sightings in Fairfield County. Greenwich a couple of days ago, Trumbull, etc. We didn't report ours. Didn't want him bothered by animal control or trigger happy neighbors or anyone else. He's welcome to the seed, but feeding him and repairing after his sloppy eating habits was a bit of a pain.

Friends living north of Hartford have been seeing them forever, but not down here. We do live on the edge of a forest, and my bird feeding was on the profligate side, so we were a must-stop on the chow hunting trail.

Why now? My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

Bears:
Black: Fight back
Brown: Lie down
White: Good night

 

[hoopsfan22]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

 

[Bama fan]

I was visiting my sister at her daughter's house near Asheville, N C. There were many black bears in the area, and one kept scaling the rear deck to get at bird feeders. They had to quit the feeding and put a motion detecting light out there to inconvenience the visitor. My niece is a photographer and managed to snap a photo of the visitor on the porch before retreating into the house.

 

[Sonny44]

What ever became of Ice Bear?
I miss him.

 

[CL82]

My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

I recently read an article that proposed exactly the same thing.

FWIW, In my experience, bears are not particularly dissuaded by human activity.

 

[pinotbear]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

absolutely the right advice. You cannot outfight or outrun a grizzly. But, the vast majority of the time, the grizz isn't trying to prey upon you (unlike black bears). The grizz is merely trying to send a message, that you're too close and have violated the bear's comfort zone. If you reduce your profile as a potential threat/annoyance, by laying down, the bear will usually just give you a nip or two, cuff you, and leave. Mind you, you can still be badly injured by this...but, fighting or fleeing is sending the message that you're a bigger threat, prey, or unpenitent. Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and protect the back of your neck and head with your arms and hands.

 

[pinotbear]

 

[ClifSpliffy]

after aboot 18 months (born typically around january), black bear cubs get the heave-ho from their moms. then, as they remember again to get their groove back, the ladies get frisky. the guys then start chasing them, and continue to do so for a month or two.
sooooooo, now's the time for all of them to get busy nosing around, and for us to take fotos of their shenanigans. plenty of bears here in all 169 towns for the vast majority to have been native born. can a bruin be a husky fan? yep. lol.

 

[Biff]

Way up north here in central CT (Farmington Valley), we have been seeing a tremendous increase in sightings. In the last 5 years I have personally had 6 bear sighting in my yard and more that 6 more sightings elsewhere while driving or cycling.
I once walked out of my garage, turned the corner, and was face to face with a bear (10 feet away). Fortunately the sight of me was so scary to him he ran away and up a tree in my yard where he napped for a couple hours!!!! And JS, since you know me, you know why the bear was so scared when he saw me.

A couple years ago I was in my back yard reading and I looked up to see this guy just waddling past.



Unfortunately they are getting too comfortable around people and there have been several house break ins by bears reported the last couple years. That's where it gets real scary.

 

[Mdoggie]

 

[Golden Husky]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

 

[Golden Husky]

This is frightening...and awesome. Thanks, Big Dog.

 

[CL82]

Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and

Kiss your ass goodbye?

 

[Jewels]

Couple of years ago in Bloomfield my grand daughter came face to face with a really large bear as she entered the house. The bear apparently had squeezed through a small opening of a left opened sliding screen door. The bear quickly left the way it came in after having raided the pantry of its favorite sweet yummies. Grand daughter is still not over the incident but she makes sure doors are always tightly closed. Yes the nightly news did feature this event. Still have many sightings around the neighborhood.

 

[huskeynut]

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

Yup - the phrase for identifying a coral snake.

 

[triaddukefan]

I was visiting my sister at her daughter's house near Asheville, N C. There were many black bears in the area, and one kept scaling the rear deck to get at bird feeders. They had to quit the feeding and put a motion detecting light out there to inconvenience the visitor. My niece is a photographer and managed to snap a photo of the visitor on the porch before retreating into the house.

Yeah... Asheville is definitely in the heart of black bear country.... and they get real comfortable... even in the city limits.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

absolutely the right advice. You cannot outfight or outrun a grizzly. But, the vast majority of the time, the grizz isn't trying to prey upon you (unlike black bears). The grizz is merely trying to send a message, that you're too close and have violated the bear's comfort zone. If you reduce your profile as a potential threat/annoyance, by laying down, the bear will usually just give you a nip or two, cuff you, and leave. Mind you, you can still be badly injured by this...but, fighting or fleeing is sending the message that you're a bigger threat, prey, or unpenitent. Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and protect the back of your neck and head with your arms and hands.

Tell that to Hugh Glass.

 

[cohenzone]

Timely. We are heading today for a few days in a tiny Berkshire Mt town. It’s a VRBO place. The owner said there have been bears in the neighborhood lately. Given the change in the weather forecast, we might be spending more indoor time than we wanted. But we do have to walk the dog who is not much more than a mouthful to a bear.

 

[Jackcatscal]

The best bears of all...

 

[Wilderness]

Better to feed songbirds during the winter while bears are inactive. Attracting a bear to birdfood is bad for the bear - baiting it into close contact with homes and people. We can maintain hummingbird feeders which work visually (no food odor). All the details at most any Fish and Game site.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

hehe 'snakes' (a fairly regular event, tho special this year cuz of two). having been away from the homestead for a bit, a few days ago i head out to check the experimental/research garden. it's in the middle of a grass field, aboot 25 x 15, with 2x4 corner posts, and wrapped in deer netting. as sometimes happens, a large black snake (racer? rat? at least 4 feet) gets all bollixed up in the netting and is toast. fine, 'hey predators! free cable! do ur thing!' yesterday, i cruise out there to show some pals unfamiliar with our wild kingdom, that serpent. as we're looking at that one, i immediately notice the funk of something, and not coming from the snake at hand. nosing around the exterior high grass surrounding most of the garden, i locate an even bigger black snake, now also dead by netting. lovely. where are the army and air force of hungry critters to clean up these snacks? i did notice a mess of crows yakking and squawking in some fieldedge trees (white ash population really, really dying this year) later in the day, when i went back to plant a few yellow tomato cultivars that i've been working on. im hoping that they were yelling at me to leave the area so they could chow down in peace.

there will be a black bear hunting season here in Connecticut as we've gone way past 'cute, interesting' and are now firmly into 'p.i.t.a., dangerous, where's the shotgun?' territory. first the shotgun, to try and send the message to their backside, but iffn that don't work, then the rifle. not a fan of killing anything, unless there is no other option. 'wolf' (ne coyote aboot 1/4 wolf dna) pups count off the charts this year. when they fire up their moonlight serenades, it sounds like the tabernacle choir. or miss wormwoods 3rd grade class recital.

 

[MooseJaw]

Yeah... Asheville is definitely in the heart of black bear country.... and they get real comfortable... even in the city limits.

Some bear info:
bears can't read, therefore a city limit sign is worthless
bears don't know it's a birdfeeder, no a sign won't help.. see point above
99.9% of bears are more afraid of humans, then we are of them
bears don't like bigger bodies, get on a boulder stand tall and make noise
how to tell if a bear is large, if the head looks huge, it's a smaller bear, if the head appears small the bear is large: see photo above mom and cub check out the heads and bodies.
a bear is dangerous, a bear with cubs is a lot more dangerous, a bear on a one night stand is unbearable, a bear lying in the grass smoking is feeling pretty good, just don't make fun of their choice of partners, they don't like that.
Hope this helps, most of the above have been approved by Yogi himself

 

[Bama fan]

Some bear info:
bears can't read, therefore a city limit sign is worthless
bears don't know it's a birdfeeder, no a sign won't help.. see point above
99.9% of bears are more afraid of humans, then we are of them
bears don't like bigger bodies, get on a boulder stand tall and make noise
how to tell if a bear is large, if the head looks huge, it's a smaller bear, if the head appears small the bear is large: see photo above mom and cub check out the heads and bodies.
a bear is dangerous, a bear with cubs is a lot more dangerous, a bear on a one night stand is unbearable, a bear lying in the grass smoking is feeling pretty good, just don't make fun of their choice of partners, they don't like that.
Hope this helps, most of the above have been approved by Yogi himself

BTW, Yogi and Boo Boo are back and starring in a Geico commercial.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

hehe 'snakes' (a fairly regular event, tho special this year cuz of two). having been away from the homestead for a bit, a few days ago i head out to check the experimental/research garden. it's in the middle of a grass field, aboot 25 x 15, with 2x4 corner posts, and wrapped in deer netting. as sometimes happens, a large black snake (racer? rat? at least 4 feet) gets all bollixed up in the netting and is toast. fine, 'hey predators! free cable! do ur thing!' yesterday, i cruise out there to show some pals unfamiliar with our wild kingdom, that serpent. as we're looking at that one, i immediately notice the funk of something, and not coming from the snake at hand. nosing around the exterior high grass surrounding most of the garden, i locate an even bigger black snake, now also dead by netting. lovely. where are the army and air force of hungry critters to clean up these snacks? i did notice a mess of crows yakking and squawking in some fieldedge trees (white ash population really, really dying this year) later in the day, when i went back to plant a few yellow tomato cultivars that i've been working on. im hoping that they were yelling at me to leave the area so they could chow down in peace.

there will be a black bear hunting season here in Connecticut as we've gone way past 'cute, interesting' and are now firmly into 'p.i.t.a., dangerous, where's the shotgun?' territory. first the shotgun, to try and send the message to their backside, but iffn that don't work, then the rifle. not a fan of killing anything, unless there is no other option. 'wolf' (ne coyote aboot 1/4 wolf dna) pups count off the charts this year. when they fire up their moonlight serenades, it sounds like the tabernacle choir. or miss wormwoods 3rd grade class recital.

(snake tales, part deux)
so i checked out the '2 snake deer netting kerfuffle' this am, and i find a third one. never had more than one, ever, in the past ten years of that plot, and now 3, none shorter than aboot 4'. the original two have been chomped up to to the fence line, and the 3rd suprised me so much, that i decided to examine closer tomorrow, or next month. lol. hey, the other wildlife have to eat, too.