CLEVER BEAR...

Molly by cantilevered deck support (read "bear ladder")

Goodbye, trusted feeders...

It wasn't too long before dawn that a sudden noise had the pups in an uproar.  I looked out the window to the closed deck gate and the un-tripped booby-traps I set up....a railing climbing bear would have knocked over some loud items coming onto the deck and retreated.

Alas, I went on the deck around 630am and for the first time for me here (heard it done lots before), the bear climbed up a cantilevered deck support and in one fell swoop pulled a two-feeder solid metal pole over almost 180 degrees. It's a feeder damaged a couple of years ago by another bear, and I remember trying to straighten a far more modest bend using a large vise and my 250 pound weight...and it took a serious amount of effort on my part.

So the moral of this story is if a passing bear wants something, they will try many ways to get it.  I didn't expect a climbing attack so left the feeders out given the prior successes of my noisy traps.  Note to self: feeders go in at night.



Bob