A Word to the Wise

 I should practice what I preach! Almost every year, usually in early April, I mention on this page that people should remove their bird feeders so bears won't be tempted. This is the first winter I've fed the birds in a number of years. I got a small seed holder that I could stick on my big picture window in the living room and have enjoyed watching nuthatches and chickadees feeding there this winter. In the back of my mind, I had April 1st as the date to take down the feeder, but because I had a small amount of seeds left, and the feeder is well off the ground (at least 6 ft. up, attached to the picture window), I wasn't too concerned.

Last night I saw the light on the garage come on - it is triggered by motion. I looked out, but didn't see anything. I was expecting to catch a glimpse of a skunk or perhaps a stray cat or dog. The light went off and I settled down to watch television. Suddenly I heard a little noise by the window on my right and glanced over there just in time to see the bird feeder disappearing! I jumped up and cranked open the window and shouted "Get out of here!" a couple of times, and then ran to the kitchen where I happened to have a big heavy iron skillet on the stove (I was going to cook a beef roast for my supper last night but had put that off in favor of something quicker), and grabbed a metal spatula. I turned on the deck light and went out, banged on the skillet and shouted "Get out of here!" again several times. I couldn't see anything in the darkness, but I could hear geese on the pond chattering away. All else was quiet. I was pretty sure it had to be a bear.

This morning I was out early to see if I could find the little tray that had been knocked off of the plastic attachment on the window. It was empty, on the ground, unharmed. There were obvious muddy marks on the side of the house - big smudges from the bear's paws. That was one hungry big bear to reach that high for a few bird seeds. Believe me, the feeder is inside tonight - I will continue putting it out for the next couple of mornings just to use up the remaining bird food. Lesson learned!

Keep garbage, composters, and anything else that bears will smell - and their sense of smell is keener than most other animals - inside your garage or some other place that can be securely closed. Remember that bears are powerful animals and very clever. They will also remember where they got an easy meal and return. If they become bothersome, a game warden will come and probably shoot the animal, and that is really not something any of us want to have happen. So protect yourself and the wildlife and if you do encounter a bear on your property, make loud noises to let him/her know this is not a good place to be. If there is no available food and they have a noisy reception when they show up, they will not return.

By the way, the ice was completely gone from the pond by late Sunday afternoon - except Jamie said he saw a "berg" still floating around out there perhaps early Monday morning when he was trying to locate buoy markers in preparation for putting out markers for Sunken Island, etc. He said he couldn't locate the marker for Smith's Point, but later spotted it well north of the actual location it's supposed to be. He will get markers and buoys out soon, weather permitting. In the meantime, any boaters should be aware there can be a variety of junk floating around after the ice goes out - so be careful. Summer is almost here!