slightly scary bear moment

I'm a tiny bit :twitch: freaked out :twitch: right this second.

We have had a very curious and unafraid little black bear (a two-year cub, we think) hanging around our house for a few days. Not a big deal, as he hadn't gone anywhere near the beehives, and was willing to be startled off by the dogs barking or us yelling when necessary. I got some cute pics of him earlier out the back (glass) door:





Just now though, I was upstairs getting dressed (to take the dogs for a walk! 8O :!: ) when I heard Eggbert *FREAKING OUT* downstairs. I came down to find the little blackbear *ON* the front deck checking out the bees and all the veggies we have growing in containers there :x . He had to climb our front stairs to get there...and Scott had forgotten to close the gate. I yelled and banged on the window, and he took off down the stairs, and is now hanging around in the driveway.

So much for my dog-walk! :( :roll: I cant even get to my studio right now!
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Woah. Yeah, I'd be up in the house, freaking out, lol. Nice shots of the bear though. I know you're in Alaska so there's more of that up there than down here in the desert, but yikes, up at the HOUSE? No thanks, lol.
Now would be a great time for a really loud air horn. There is
only one bear spray I'd trust, but a good scare-away (or a few) is
probably as good. Know anyone with bear-dogs?

Shellie
Shellie wrote:
Now would be a great time for a really loud air horn. There is
only one bear spray I'd trust, but a good scare-away (or a few) is
probably as good. Know anyone with bear-dogs?

Shellie


An air horn is a good idea! We keep bear-specific pepper spray (and a gun) handy just in case...but that's a great alternate.

I know lots of people up here who have KBDs...but I dunno...I once saw a dog killed by a bear (a lab :( ) and I don't think I could EVER send a dog out against a bear...even one that was bred and trained for it.
i too was thinking air horn plus your neighbors would hear it and be warned of the visitor. No sign of Mom?
SheepieBoss wrote:
i too was thinking air horn plus your neighbors would hear it and be warned of the visitor. No sign of Mom?


Around here, I'm not too sure anybody would hear it! :lol: Although we can hear when our up-the-mountain neighbors fire off a gun (they routinely scare off bears that way).

No Mom. I think he's old enough to be off on his own...probably very recently sent off in fact. Im not sure what age that usually happens...2 or 3 years? Almost every one of the "problem" bears our neighborhood has had have been very young black bears. Our closest neighbors had to call Fish and Game to remove a pair of them from their crawlspace a few years ago 8O . The young ones just don't always get the message that people and their houses are bad news. They are so ridiculously cute and butterball round at this age...its hard to take them seriously as a threat, but let them get much bigger and STILL not scared and you have a real problem. So...we force ourselves to be mean and really spook them when we can :wink: .

I wish I had the pics off of Scott's phone...he took a great one of Eggbert barking at the back door, with the bear right outside. You can really tell in that photo that Bert and the bear are about the same height :o . He's probably under 100lbs at this point.
Wow!! Awesome pictures!! :D The air horn and backup gun are good choices. Maybe some pot lids to clang together until you
get the air horn. 8) I couldn't send a dog out either. I'd probably get eaten as I tried to save the dog.

Maybe install a very loud klaxon horn or pole mounted siren... something where you can flip a switch when you see them. Before
going with commercial security companies, we had one over the shop. Accidentally set it off a few times over the years. :oops: It
was SO loud... even I hated it.

Huh... my story of watching a beautiful "V" formation of Canada Geese flying over the backyard this morning and getting pooped
on greatly pales in comparison to this! :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol: Jaci! Goosepoop! Yuck!

So...I'm learning about some brand NEW things to keep out of bear reach. :?

We are already careful about:
trash...
birdfeeders...
potting soil (its salty. bears LOVE the stuff. This is what he was into on the deck, NOT the beehives, oddly enough)...
cigarette butts (my old employee smoked, and we learned the hard way to keep butt jars contained)...
dogfood

But Ive never had a bear interested in canned soda before :? 8O

We had 2 cases of diet soda left over from a company picnic stored in a shed. They are now scattered (in various states of destruction) all over the drive :evil: . He also went INSIDE the RV we are renovating. The door was left open to air it out. No damage...but he did find a plastic container with instant cocoa, powdered creamer and sweetener packets in it :headbang:

This bear is a BRAT! :evil:
I think he will be back again. He has found some goodies and he will want more. You might have too call someone to try and get the bear moved
You will be lucky to keep the bear out of the rv- open door or not. We have had
black bears totally shred a camper- they love the insulation. No canned food or
drinks anywhere accessable. They smell even the canned stuff. Toothpaste and soap
are biggies, or ANYTHING with a strong odor.
I'd give the KBDs another thought too, well trained they are rarely injured.
And it sure as heck beats the alternative. Scare him while you still can.
My brother-in-law shot a really big grizzly (in AK actually -he was a hunting pilot) from
6 ft in his cabin once. Really not something you want to experience, even though
yours is a black bear. There is a picture somewhere on the web of it.
Good luck Laurel - I'm sure I'd be anxious about it.

Shellie
Parwaz wrote:
I think he will be back again. He has found some goodies and he will want more. You might have too call someone to try and get the bear moved


I really, really hope not :( . That would only be a last resort if he did some extreme weird thing...like the ones in our neighbor's crawlspace...otherwise, we don"t actually live in a regular "neighborhood" as such...we are almost directly up against a state park (our up-hill neighbors *are* right up to it), and the bears being here is perfectly normal. This little dude is more persistent than most, but we get bears like this here all the time. Usually, they sniff around, pee on everything ( :evil: :evil: :evil: ) and move along pretty quickly.

Jaci: you think goose poo is gross???? Its got nothing on bear pee, trust me! :lol: Dogs love it...they think its the BEST thing ever to roll in :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:
Shellie wrote:
You will be lucky to keep the bear out of the rv- open door or not. We have had
black bears totally shred a camper- they love the insulation. No canned food or
drinks anywhere accessable. They smell even the canned stuff. Toothpaste and soap
are biggies, or ANYTHING with a strong odor.
I'd give the KBDs another thought too, well trained they are rarely injured.
And it sure as heck beats the alternative. Scare him while you still can.
My brother-in-law shot a really big grizzly (in AK actually -he was a hunting pilot) from
6 ft in his cabin once. Really not something you want to experience, even though
yours is a black bear. There is a picture somewhere on the web of it.
Good luck Laurel - I'm sure I'd be anxious about it.

Shellie


Insulation???!!! :pupeyes: Aww crap! We're in the middle of gutting this thing to redo the interior. Hopefully he didn't give it a try. I didn't notice any damage (other than what WE are doing intentionally :wink: ), but I also didn't look all that closely, as I was mainly just checking to make sure he wasn't still IN there 8O ! I'll make Scott go check when he gets home. :twisted:
Yeah, I agree. Have Scott check. 8) :lol:

We live in a subdivision but our house is just a couple of houses from the woods. I grew up here, played in those woods as a kid and honestly have never seen a black bear or been concerned about them. But there's a beekeeper just down the road from us and he did have a problem with black bears getting into his hives in the past. The problem is when they become too brave or loose their natural fear of us. Hoping your little stinker will move along.

Ewww. :lol: Maybe I've got a good imagination but really glad bears don't fly, Laurel. 8)
That goose pooped on my head... ick. How many times do you need to wash your hair before you feel like you've finally gotten it out?
Jaci I'm sure you aren't superstitious, but where I live that's a really
good thing. Like when a broom falls company is coming, itchy palm is
money coming in, ears ringing someone is talking about you... bird poop
in your hair is really good luck. Gross, but good luck!

Shellie
Shellie wrote:
Jaci I'm sure you aren't superstitious, but where I live that's a really
good thing. Like when a broom falls company is coming, itchy palm is
money coming in, ears ringing someone is talking about you... bird poop
in your hair is really good luck. Gross, but good luck!

Shellie


...If only to balance Karma :wink: ! After goose-poo in the hair, your DUE some good luck! :sidestep:
The pics of the baby bear are cute, but can understand the fear. In a related story, they are having problems with bears around Orlando as well. the usual of them coming out of the woods looking for food. It must be time for the babies to leave their Moms. I don't know if we have any bear around here, I've not seen nor heard of any. We're about an hour out of Orlando at the Ocean. Chuck did say he saw a Ferrel Pig the other day though.

I hope the bear hasn't done much damage and they move on.
Bears! Yes we have the problem in the orlando area and elsewhere in Florida. Wow that is scary for you! I would never get out out of the house! However, his butt reminded me of bogey's butt.
Hoping brat-bear has moseyed on along. :crossed:

Shellie wrote:
Jaci I'm sure you aren't superstitious, but where I live that's a really
good thing. Like when a broom falls company is coming, itchy palm is
money coming in, ears ringing someone is talking about you... bird poop
in your hair is really good luck. Gross, but good luck!

I should have posted earlier so you could guided me on how best to get the most out of this. I'm sure
part of it would have been that the goose gift must remain in place for 24 hours. 8) Still, might not be a
bad idea to buy a lottery ticket. :lol:
6Girls wrote:
Shellie wrote:
Jaci I'm sure you aren't superstitious, but where I live that's a really
good thing. Like when a broom falls company is coming, itchy palm is
money coming in, ears ringing someone is talking about you... bird poop
in your hair is really good luck. Gross, but good luck!

I should have posted earlier so you could guided me on how best to get the most out of this. I'm sure
part of it would have been that the goose gift must remain in place for 24 hours. 8) Still, might not be a
bad idea to buy a lottery ticket. :lol:


Hey, I wonder if that also has some hair-conditioning benefits? :lmt:
My head itches just thinking about it :lol:
He's just after your pickernick basket!
So Jaci, I gotta know - did you play a lottery ticket? Did you win??
Maybe I'll play one in your honor tonight. If I win big I will donate
to the OES rescues, ok?

Shellie
Sweet! That would be awesome, Shellie! :D Drawing's tonight... I think... I seldom play so I'm not sure.
I'll let you know if you should keep "goose pooping on your head means you're going to win the lottery" on
the list or if it's safe to cross it off. 8)
Alas, only two numbers. Very close to a $7 win though. 8)
Unfortunately, the goose poop theory has been debunked. :lol:

Mine.......03 15 16 23 42 PWR=25
Winning...08 14 15 16 27 PWR=26
wow, such excitement!
Just catching up.....hope the little pesky bears are gone.
Great pics, but a little unnerving knowing he isn't afraid to climb your stairs!
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