So, as I policed up the front lawn (again) of all the junk some local bear had decided to dig out of the garbage can and flung every-which-way, it occurred to me to wonder how common this is.

Just for curiosity, how many of you out there get regular, or semi-regular visits from Mr or Mrs bear?

Picture is for example. Our area has Black bears.

 

Do skunks, raccoons and squirrels count??

39 minutes ago, charliearon said:

Do skunks, raccoons and squirrels count??

The squirrels in our local area are black as well, and mostly spend their time running in circles and looking cute. I don't think I've ever seen a raccoon out here, or even a skunk, which is strange, now that I think of it.

Edit: what we do have is tons and tons of suicidal deer.

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by HiFlyer

N.W Florida here. Black bears are a problem here from time to time. Here is a mother bear and two cubs walking off with my trash. I forgot to strap the lid.

https://ring.com/share/4964626c-ccba-401d-99ce-2147cec82f73

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by Wise87

I live near Yosemite and bears are only a problem in the woods. I suppose they would wander out further if the visitors stopped ignoring the signs and stopped bringing them goodies from their picknick baskets.

 A bear can is a  large plastic canister maybe 9x16" high that has a screwdriver slot to open the lid. The bears kick them around and give up. 

I doubt we will see public wheelie bins for private residences, because the garbage man doesn't want to have to open the latches.

The real danger is mountain lions.

I don't know what got into my trash bag three nights ago, but I had set the bag out on the front porch  in the morning planning to carry it our to the trash bin when I walked to the front gate to collect the mail.  I found the bag destroyed and the contents scattered around in a four foot radius the next morning. Oh joy... 🥴 

When my wife and I were vacationing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we were told by the resort management to not leave any food or food containers/wrappers in our car and to place such items in bear-proof trash cans.  They have problems with black bears breaking into cars and getting into standard trash containers, seeking human garbage.  They called such bears "garbage bears" and said that bears that ate garbage ended up with health problems.

Just to balance things out - I'd say its an uncommon experience. I've lived in five different regions of the US, and I've not only never had a bear problem or saw a bear personally, but I've also never met anyone that had a bear problem. 

I'm a bit jealous - your bear issue means you live in an area that is probably surrounded by natural wilderness - an increasingly rare thing. Having said that, if someone offered to put a few bears in my neighborhood, my answer would be an emphatic NO.:)

Historical black bear range:

Black bear range circa 1995 (it's almost certainly even smaller now)

9 hours ago, n4gix said:

I don't know what got into my trash bag three nights ago, but I had set the bag out on the front porch  in the morning planning to carry it our to the trash bin when I walked to the front gate to collect the mail.  I found the bag destroyed and the contents scattered around in a four foot radius the next morning. Oh joy... 🥴 

Probably racoons.

14 hours ago, Wise87 said:

N.W Florida here. Black bears are a problem here from time to time. Here is a mother bear and two cubs walking off with my trash. I forgot to strap the lid.

https://ring.com/share/4964626c-ccba-401d-99ce-2147cec82f73

 

Loved the baby that decided to climb on your roof.

If we humans will build houses on territory they inhabited first, then we can expect interactions. 

Perhaps the bear worked for the local refuge collectors? 😀

Most I see is a mini jumping spider on my coffee table, a few sparrows outside and plenty of seagulls squawking.  And yes, the seagulls are partial to a bit of bin bag exploration. Back in the UK Mr Fox was very interested in bin bag exploration.

Edited September 2, 20223 yr by martin-w

This is the bear to watch out for. 

 

 

10 hours ago, Fielder said:

The real danger is mountain lions.

 

Do you know that there have only been 27 fatal mountain lion attacks in the whole of North America in 100 years? Much less frequent that snake bites, lightning strikes and fatal bee stings apparently.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America#:~:text=A total of 126 attacks,Children are particularly vulnerable.

1 hour ago, enright said:

I'm a bit jealous - your bear issue means you live in an area that is probably surrounded by natural wilderness - an increasingly rare thing.

They are debating (fighting) over whether the area should be made a national forest.

In the meantime, bear sightings are common enough as to be not a big thing at all, though the bears I encounter are usually late for important business meetings, and are habitually racing off parallel or opposite to my location.

The last encounter was one night with a guy going through my garbage right in front of me, who was unimpressed when I yelled and ran at him waving my arms.

He pointedly continued to dig for a bit, then sauntered away very slowly down the driveway, where he sat there looking at me as I stuffed trash back into the can.

11 hours ago, Fielder said:

The real danger is mountain lions.

We have the occasional cougar sighting in our area...

But..... When I was out yesterday at one of the nearby lakes, I heard some emphatic yipping which a local identified as a Red Fox.

Made me immediately think of this:

 

1 minute ago, HiFlyer said:

They are debating (fighting) over whether the area should be made a national forest.

I actually live IN a National Park, which in my case means being surrounded by literally millions of trees! In the snip below from Google Maps, I live in the little house just to the right of the BIG house. You can just see the gray roof partially obscured by tree limbs.