Bears!

[Stitches]

Shouldn't driving over their garbage all over the street DAILY be a reminder in itself?   I'm sorry to here of such inconsiderate neighbors.  The Monk in me would be driven crazy by garbage on the street.

Note to self:   You are not safe from bears even up the stairs.   Thanks snowave.   

[superMom]

LATE BREAKING SCORE JUST IN.........

Bear Proof Trashcan - 1        Bear - 0

[Leftfield]

Could this be the start of a new Olympic event?   

[Stitches]

LATE BREAKING SCORE JUST IN.........

Bear Proof Trashcan - 1        Non Bear Proof Trashcan - 1    Bear - 0

He was at my house too.    Turned the garbage can UPSIDE down, but the straps held.   I had to turn it back over and pick up about 6 pieces of trash that the bear was able to pull from the can (just plastic cups and bags).  Woo-hoo.   I heard him outside at 10:45  near top of Apple.

[smartpatrol]

Apparently, the DFR bear had an active weekend.

I've had it go through my garbage once in the past week, but once I changed the litterbox, he's left my garbage cans alone. 

[smartpatrol]

My garbage was pawed through a little this morning, and my husband found a bear paw print on the property.  Guess the bear was active last night.

Oh, and I think I know why there were shots on DFR the other day... someone who lives up the street from me shot at the bear when she caught it eating her apples. 

[Cherokee_Kid]

Coyotes were singing a lot this morning between about 8 a.m. til about 9 a.m. and local dogs were barking like crazy on DFR. My 110 lb. Rottie made haste for the door and demanded to come in.  Figured the coyote set off the dogs but now not so sure. Maybe there was a bear out there nearby. I didn't know one was in the area. I'll call our neighbors with apple trees. Also, I saw a big bob cat running across the street on DFR about 4 in the afternoon last week.

Lions, tigers and bears. Oh my!

[ChattyCathy]

She tried to shoot a bear because of apples!??!!! The bears were here first, and where did the bullets go that missed the bear?!  Maybe your neighbor needs to move to the city. 

My garbage was pawed through a little this morning, and my husband found a bear paw print on the property.  Guess the bear was active last night.

Oh, and I think I know why there were shots on DFR the other day... someone who lives up the street from me shot at the bear when she caught it eating her apples. 

[quadriders]

We have lived in Wrightwood for 18 years and never did we see a bear  on our street until last week.  It came 2 nights in a row
clawed the heck out of the trash cans,  first night he didnt get it  open.  what a mess the next night.  Its a big one     Virginia Street

[Bob C]

I saw one on the road near Jackson Lake this morning about 4:30am

[CA5th]

There was a very large dead cat on SR138 in the area of Lone Pine Cyn this morning.  From the size of it and the real long tail I think it was a bobcat. 

[Nolena]

Not much of a tail on a bobcat.

[smartpatrol]

She tried to shoot a bear because of apples!??!!! The bears were here first, and where did the bullets go that missed the bear?!  Maybe your neighbor needs to move to the city. 

I'm not fond of that neighbor for many reasons.  She's lived here for nearly a quarter century... you'd think that she'd have accepted the fact that wildlife exists around here!

[Cherokee_Kid]

Actually, I would LOVE to see a bear in the wild.  But I'd shoot it with my camera...and not a gun! I do not understand people who choose to live in semi-wilderness but do not love all the flora and fauna the area has to provide for all of us to enjoy! It was all here many centuries before we humans encroached on it. Whoever you are on DFR (although I'm thinking you are not evolved enough to even own a computer) give the bears a break!!!

[SkierBob]

My garbage was pawed through a little this morning, and my husband found a bear paw print on the property.  Guess the bear was active last night.

Oh, and I think I know why there were shots on DFR the other day... someone who lives up the street from me shot at the bear when she caught it eating her apples. 

The shooter could actually be doing the bear a favor by helping the bear remain wild by being afraid of human interaction.  Although there are plenty of other ways to scare off bears without shooting a gun. 

The shooter doesn't need to move to the city,, they just need to realize or be told that after 25 years the city has moved to them. 

Someone should tell the bear too.

[luvithere]

Actually, I would LOVE to see a bear in the wild.  But I'd shoot it with my camera...and not a gun! I do not understand people who choose to live in semi-wilderness but do not love all the flora and fauna the area has to provide for all of us to enjoy! It was all here many centuries before we humans encroached on it. Whoever you are on DFR (although I'm thinking you are not evolved enough to even own a computer) give the bears a break!!!

Well said!!!

[Cherokee_Kid]

I heard one gun shot about 8 a.m. this morning on DFR. Sounded like a .38 caliber. This is becoming all too common.

C'mon, people. Use an air horn or something less lethal! Bears need to eat too.

[ChattyCathy]

I hope you're calling the sheriff and reporting gunshots.  Where are the stray bullets going?  She sounds like a menace.  What about clapping pans together?  She just better not kill or injure a bear! Isn't there some law against this?

[Cherokee_Kid]

I had the same thoughts too. My concern is not only for the bears, but the students walking to the bus stop, joggers, bicyclists, and people in golf carts frequently on the road that time of morning. I have even taken to tying a bright bandanna around my Rottweiler's neck for fear she may be mistaken at a distance for a bear. We don't let her roam but I'm not sure what direction the shots are coming from either. I heard a helicopter shortly afterward and thought it might be responding to a complaint of shots being fired, but when I looked up it was one of those big, water dropping crane choppers, so no such luck. Was there a fire in the area? Didn't see or smell any smoke...

[Tumblebush]

Does anyone have any simple solutions on how to bear proof our monster garbage bins?

You can't really bear proof anything but you can make it discouraging enough that they just give up..unless you want to buy one of those bear proof bins from the forest service.
We have bears roaming through our property all the time but have never had a problem with them...even the occasional Grizz just wonders by and we just keep our trash in a wood shed that smells of urinal cakes. Not to mention we wash and rinse everything before we toss it.
But bears will be bears and they will get into anything they want to if they put their mind to it. A friend of ours had a bear rip the door off their barn to get to the feed...twice.
It's like this..once they get food from one container...whether it be a trashcan, barn, house or cabin...they associate all trashcans, barns, houses and cabins with food.
Most the bears in our area know me by now....fire crackers work great but so does chasing them with a big stick.