Category: Widllife - neoTerra

Un-Bear-Able - The Agony of Defeat

7/28/2024

As you know, the bears have been waging war on my trash container for several months.

Back in April, I built a "skirt" around the steel container with the hope it would stop them from knocking it over. It worked for over two months and I was feeling pretty darn proud of myself.

However, the bears are just as persistent as squirrels and about 1000x bigger. They ripped the entire platform out of the ground ... Bears: 2 - Human: 0.

Fortunately, they couldn't get the container open

I was defeated ... once again. Clearly, an "easy" solution wasn't going to win the contest. It was time to roll up my sleeves (not really; I was wearing a t-shirt) and do some real work. After eight bags of concrete and a bunch of rock, the platform is now a solid 600 lb slab.

I embedded 3/8" stainless steel rods into the slab and bolted the container down with aircraft nuts. I hope this is enough ... but I may add a skirt ... just to be sure.

I have visions of laughing bears stealing an excavator so they can get into my trash.

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Un-Bear-Able Part 2

4/29/2024

In my last episode the bears had discovered how to defeat my steel trash container. The bears of neoTerra have probably been watchin' Yogi and Boo-Boo.

It occurred to me that the bears might be getting their powerful paws under the container to tip it over.

So, I built a "skirt" around the base so they can't get their paws under the container.

It seems like it worked (for now). Last week the trash container remained intact but the bears pushed the yard-box of gardening supplies over. There's no food or trash in that box so I assume they were frustrated.

I doubt that the Contest is over, but I'll take a minor victory!

Un-BEAR-able

4/9/2024

As y'all probably know, neoTerra is located in the beautiful southern Appalachian mountains. The wildlife has been living here for thousands of years ... we humans are basically temporary visitors in their territory. I do try to keep the deer at least 75 feet away from the house because they destroy my gardens. But, aside from that, the wildlife rules.

Da' Bears
No, no, no! ... not the Chicago Bears ... they are easy to defeat.   I'm talking about the Appalachian Black Bears.

I've learned that bears are incredibly smart. This was surprising to me since they aren't really predators and they're not very aggressive (except for a mamma with cubs).

They have a sense of smell much better than a dog. The cubs are very curious and playful and get into all manner of mischief. They love to climb on everything. They wrestle with bags of mulch (they really like cedar), tear them apart and roll around in the mess they created. They steal the garden hoses and wrestle with those, too.

Garbage, however, is their favorite thing in the whole world and I've been having an ongoing Man-vs-Bear garbage contest for the past 9 years. I suffered a couple of defeats early on with plastic trash cans but, being of superior intelligence, I prevailed by using a heavy, steel job-box to secure my trash.    YAY!

A few nights ago I caught mom and three new cubs attacking the trash container and chased them off (try to imagine a skinny old guy with a flashlight chasing four bears in the dark ... yes, I do stupid things).

Bears do not have the intelligence to analyze a problem or plan an attack ... but they're incredibly persistent ... and strong. Last night they finally scored a victory.    They managed to break the (obviously too small) bolts holding the container down and they bent the metal hasps keeping it closed.

My punishment was cleaning up the bear-buffet they left behind. Now that they have stumbled upon (not planned) a successful attack they will be back every week.

It's going to take a lot more concrete and much bigger bolts to restore my dignity.

Bring It On, Bears!!! Never Give Up. Never Surrender!

neoTerra and the Three Bears

12/5/2022

One of the pleasures of living in the forest is observing the wildlife. We have deer, bear, wild turkeys and many smaller animals (like pesty raccoons).

I have seen a bobcat on the property twice. There are reports of coyotes but I haven't seen them.

This year we have two families of bears. One is an older female with two two-year old cubs and the other is a younger female with two yearlings.

Normally, the female mates every other year and the cubs stay with her until they are almost two. In the fall, she chases them off for a short romance with papa bear and begins to bulk-up for winter.

This year, however, there has been such a huge bounty of hickory nuts and acorns that she hasn't chased them away. One or the other family has been here foraging every day for the last four days.

Here are a few pics for your viewing enjoyment!

The cubs are always getting into mischief

Goldilocks And The Three Bears

5/7/2022

I confess... I don't have beautiful golden hair like Goldilocks. It's grey. Maybe I can be Grey-dilocks LOL.

We enjoy living in the woods and doing what we can to preserve a bit of nature. We often have a herd of deer hanging out and two months ago I was able to get some pics... there wasn't much for them to eat then.

This week, Moma Bear and her two, almost-grown cubs from last year paid us a leisurely visit. The forest has burst into life over the past few weeks.

What difference!!

Earth Day

4/22/2022

In spite of my rants against (dishonest) Climate Hysteria, I am an environmentalist. I strongly support legitimate environmental concerns for clean air, clean water and expansion of forests, parks and wilderness areas.

When we were designing neoTerra one of the goals was to reduce our energy consumption by 80%.

Prior to adding our solar panels we achieved a reduction of 77%, proving that it is possible to make substantial reductions in energy consumption while sustaining a very comfortable lifestyle. There is no need to give up hot showers, cold beer or live in a doghouse to save planet Earth!

America has abundant land and amazingly diverse climates. There is no requirement to live in urban hives or accept the Progressive's demand that we should own nothing and be happy. That is The Road To Serfdom.

I suggest that it's better to own land and be happy.
I suggest that its better to own land and take some responsibility for the environment.

The deer are abundant (much to the distress of my gardens), the Eastern Bluebirds returned in time for Easter and the hostas are sprouting.

We have more trillium than ever this year and, for the first time, we have a yellow trillium which is rare in our area.

The Mayapples are prolific this year. I wish the deer would eat these instead of hostas, azaleas and hollies.... but they don't. Mayapples are toxic (except for the tiny ripe fruit). It has medicinal uses but is best left to professionals. I suppose that's why the deer leave them alone.

HAPPY EARTH DAY !!

Barred Owl House

1/20/2018

Barred Owls

Over the past two years we we've heard owl calls at night but we've never actually seen them. I did a little searching on the web and discovered that the calls are unique to the Barred Owl. Many folks believe that the call sounds like "Who-cooks-for-you" but to me it just sounds like "Hoooo-hoo--hoo-Hoooo". You can judge for yourself.

The Barred Owl is native to the Eastern United States but has expanded it's range into Canada and the Pacific Northwest. They are called "Barred" owl because of the distinctive 'bar' pattern on their chests which distinguishes them from the closely related spotted owls.

We would like to see the owls so I bought an owl house a few weeks ago and finally put it up yesterday. These are large birds so the house is really BIG.

Apparently, the owls need a clear flight path to the nest and like to sit on a perch to scout for food. I selected a gnarly old tree near the cliff with a clear path and a huge horizontal, moss-covered branch for a perch. I could only get it about 10 feet off the ground; as far as my ladder would reach.

The males scout out nesting spots in the early spring so we're hoping that a discriminating bachelor looking for an upscale residence will move in and start a family.

July is Snake Month

7/26/2016

When we first moved here we were surprised by the number and size of the snakes. The combination of rock, rodents and a moderate climate makes this a snake paradise. The Garden of Eden wouldn't be complete without a serpent or two.

We didn't see any snakes earlier this year but last week we came across a couple of impressive specimens.

The guy on the left is a large Caneback Timber Rattlesnake. The guy on the right is a 5 foot black Rat Snake.

We found the Rat Snake lounging in the carport with a full belly.

The Rattler was passing through the new hosta garden I planted a coupe of weeks ago.

I think I'm going to post some signs to warn our guests to watch where they step!

Changing Seasons

6/23/2015

By the end of May the foliage completely filled in and the character of the site has completely changed. The dramatic vistas we see from the deck in winter and spring are shrouded by the forest creating a sense of seclusion.

AND... the bears are back. They don't really hibernate here in Georgia but they're inactive during really cold weather (like we had in February). We're happy to see that the baby cubs from last year have all survived and look healthy. They're almost full grown now.

The Three Little Bears

8/10/2014

Actually, one big bear and two little bears. Mama is looking a bit lean and she still has two cute cubs in tow. We're happy to see the cubs are doing well.

The subs have become much more conscientious about hauling their trash out instead of tossing it in the dumpster. Sorry Mama, no more 'Bear Buffet' at the dumpster.