I Bet You Don't Worry about Bears Making Breakfast out of Your Garbage!

So what kind of a photographer do I think I am when there is a bear in our garage and I don't even get proof?

Not only did Nate see two bears in the wee hours of the morning around the 23rd of last month, but the kids came running into the house several days ago screaming that there was a bear in the driveway.  Oh, and did I mention Whit came running into the house at 10:30 the other night right at a pinnacle scary point in our movie yelling that there were two buffalo in our driveway? Yeah, buffalo........long story I'll tell it later! Anyway..... 

So, this morning, I got up at 05:30 am because I was awake anyway and went up to get my laptop and I hear something in the garage.  I thought I heard Cisco (the Rottweiler) moving and hitting her butt against the sliding glass door of our bedroom earlier this morning so I'm not convinced it was Cisco in the garage.  I peeked out the door and there was a bear!!!!!  It was eating some of the left over food that I had put down for Cisco.  This bear was massive! I stood there dumbfounded, amazed and curious, shocked and scared shitless!  Wow, her hair is thick and wirey, kinda like a giant porcupine.  She has her head poked down into the cardboard container. You know me, lover of animals,  I kinda wanted to introduce myself....... Hi, I'm Tami, I'm the one who put that food down for our dog, cuz she gets tired of dry dog foot, but go ahead, eat it, I don't mind, just don't turn around and push the door down to get to me....I don't taste good.

Do I just keep looking? Should I slam the door really hard to scare it off?  But what if it tries to get in the door right after I slam it? The door only locks with the key.  The key's in the door, but will it hold shut even if I lock it? Bears have been known to knock down doors! What if I turn the key the wrong way and the door isn't truly locked?

I just slowly and quietly shut and lock the door and decided to go down and double check to see if Cisco was truly guarding our bedroom door! Sure enough..............there she was sprawled out sleeping to her hearts content.  What kind of a watch dog is she?  Oh Yeah, I feel safe! Ever since the first bear sighting, we were told we should leave the dog out of the garage so she could scare off the bears.  So much for that idea. 

I woke Nate and we went back upstairs to inspect the garage.  The fridge door was wide open and the Crisco can was on the floor opened with big paw prints in it.  The bear got into two containers of fruit filling, some margarine and the pie crust was on the ground uneaten.  Crisco, strawberries and margarine smeared all over the garage floor. What a mess. 

We followed the strawberry tracks just out of the garage door and there she was up on the hill eating something else.  Nate had bungee corded the garbage cans closed earlier in the week and all the cans were knocked down, two still corded down.  Nate shut the door into the garage and we went to look out the window and could still see her on the hill. 

I'm staring at her in shock.  He shuts the fridge door hard and it startles the bear.  She looks right at me through the window!  Oh thanx I'm thinking, she's looking right at me, so I'm hoping she doesn't have a mean streak and decide to come after me!  Then she takes off.  Whoa!  What a trip.  

We are truly living in the great outdoors,  the wild side of life.  I see deer crossing the road when I jog in the afternoon, bunnies and squirrels all the time.  An occasional coyote and fox.  It is truly a trip in wild kingdom where I live. 

Now we're making future plans for garbage can storage, dog storage and just keeping the bears out and away from any food.