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.
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!
RSS Feed