The Season of The Bear

Living out in the country is a constant battle.  Whether it's the weather, the shoveling, the mowing, or the gardening.  The flooding, detours from said flooding or road construction, or it's squirrels taking the seed and destroying feeders, deer, coyote, and on and on.  It's a never ending struggle with one thing or another.  Each season has it's own unique beauty, and it's own challenges.

Original feeder

We also have The Bear.  Every year near the first of June we have a visitor in the night.  The bird feeder gets raided, the garbage goes over, and thus begins the Season of The Bear.  For the last two years it was a Mom and her three cubs.  The first year she very politely ate the seed and left the feeder, but I forgot it out one night and she absconded with it.  The Brown Eyed Man thought he would come across it somewhere on the property when he mowed, but we never saw it again.  I loved that feeder. The next year she banged up the new feeder, but left it here, and I remembered to bring it in at night after that first time.

"Squirrel proof" feeder

This year I have a new feeder, similar to the first one.  The second one just couldn't stand up to squirrel abuse, which ironically was what it was supposed to do.  I really should just start bringing the feeder inside near the end of May, but after the long, harsh winter my first thought is not that it's almost The Season of the Bear.  I'm more concerned with what I'm growing, and how much work has to be put in to get it done.

The Season of the Bear arrived On the 30th of May, and this bear, a male we're guessing, took down the feeder.  I knew it wasn't the regular Mama, because she isn't so destructive.  The entire feeder was taken apart, and I never did find one of the perches.

Most recent casualty

 Duck tape and a piece of aluminum from a can did the trick, and we're back up and feeding.  The garbage will be staying in the house.  This bear actually also destroyed the suet feeder a few nights later, and has tried to get at the hummingbird feeder.  I guess I'll stop suet feeding until this season passes.  We checked the camera, and it's a lone small bear.  Probably one of the cubs that Mama taught to look for food here.  They always bend the hook, and I bend it back.  It's a crazy looking hook, but it still works.  Note that I've also moved the hook out of the garden, so the bear stop stomping on things!

Good as new.......almost.

The other change that has to be made during The Season of The Bear is the garbage situation.  We do a fair amount of burning, and recycling, so there just isn't that much food garbage that goes out.  In the winter I can go several weeks without bringing the can down the driveway.  In the Season of the Bear the garbage must remain in the house, so the garbage goes down the driveway every week.  Now that I'm writing this I am realizing the can is still at the road.  Oh well, that can wait til morning, where I will probably find it in the ditch and have to climb down to get it.  *sigh*    The Brown Eyed Man is snoring, and I just put on my jams.  The dogs have their good night treat, and that is that for this beautiful country day!

So begins The Season of the Bear, and it lasts about six weeks.  Every time I think it's time to keep the feeder out again, that they must be gone, I've been wrong.  So this time when I feel that, I'm going to wait two more weeks.........and hope we've moved on to the Dog Days of Summer.