The Bears are Back in Town

The other night, not too long after we had just returned from our trip, we were visited by a couple of black bears who raided our compost. As much as I think they're kind of cool, I'm not so keen on them looking for food in our yard. I'm going to have to employ greater measures to discourage this.

Truth be told, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Last year a big bear came and raided our compost, and he or she (I think it was a he) stayed for what seemed like an hour. It was in broad daylight, too. He just sat there and chowed down. I remember calling MH and she came to photograph him, but he ran off as soon as he saw her. This year, two younger smaller ones came back, and they dismantled two of the bins but left the stuff inside largely untouched. Last year the bear left an incredible mess.

They say not to put meat or fat in your compost, which we end up doing in small quantities. Clearly it's enough to entice bears to visit, even though the stench is incredible. I don't see how they can stand it, but I'm not a bear. R went online and did some research and learned that we should mix new scraps into the slop, and top it off with some sawdust or leaves. It's more work, but you do what you gotta do, right?

This should be interesting, I'm hoping they won't come back, but that's partly up to me.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Doug Brown for the pic.