I read this with moderate interest this morning.  But then just now, I 
spotted a bear wandering across the open fields some distance away from 
here.  (Far enough that I had to grab the binos to find out what that 
moving blob of black was.)

I've never seen one here before, nor have any of the neighbors I just 
checked with who've been here many more years than I have.  This is wide 
open country, with mostly only fragments of woodlands here and there, so 
this guy likely traveled a fair distance in search of food.  I hope he 
finds some, just not anywhere around my house.

Your post on this subject was certainly timely for me!

Jane
(Shoreham)



On 5/11/2013 6:26 AM, Alison Wagner wrote:
> Hi again, Courtney,
>
> I've given this some more thought...If you're sad about the hummers, why
> not get a few hanging plants that they will find just as rewarding?
> Fuchsias, for instance?  And plant some annuals they'd like, or plant
> bee balm?  I have bee balm all around my house for this reason.   I have
> ONE hummer feeder and if I ever find it "visited" by a bear, I'll remove
> it for the season.  It would decrease my sightings of the birds, but I
> can't bear the thought of seeing a bear being shot because I've
> attracted it to my space.
>
> The folks that owned my house before me had a bear on the deck once (and
> then they took away the food source).  I have lived here for seven years
> now.  I've seen plenty of signs of bear  (large apple-filled scat in the
> driveway) and even saw a bear catch a fawn (about thirty feet away from
> my house, mid day in July), but I've never had issues with them in the
> yard. My house is located very close to a trail used by all sorts of
> wildlife as they move from the mountains to the valleys.  I believe bear
> are close by all the time.
>
> The bears are especially desperate this spring.  They went into their
> dens without the reserves they needed due to low mast of beeches, oaks,
> etc.
> The bear you saw may have been eating ants.  So the chances of your
> problem continuing, even if you put the feeders up higher, is pretty
> great.  I've seen incredible pictures of bears climbing houses to get to
> food.
>
> My opinion may seem a bit severe, but it is really serious when bears
> get accustomed to being around people.....
>
> Good luck!
>
> Ali
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Courtney Appleyard
> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 9:24 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [VTBIRD] bear problem
>
> With a heavy (crushed actually) heart, I guess I have to take down my
> feeders for a while.   He's never hit them (except for the hummingbird
> feeder the 1st night)  but my bear has been here 4 times this week, most
> recently at 7:30pm when he came up and snooped around on my deck and sat
> on the ground 10 feet from my house snacking on leaves.
>
> Does anyone have any words of wisdom for breaking the cycle?
>
> I was thinking I might hang some feeders from my 2nd floor windows to
> keep my hummingbirds and bluebirds - but maybe even that is stupid?
>
> Just such a bad/crucial time to have to take them down, with so many
> nesting pairs coming in, populations being established, etc.
> Was thinking I'd take them down until June 1st and then reevaluate?
>
> :(
>
> Courtney in Manchester