Vandals!

[Skyco]

Made it up to our land in western NC near Tryon over the weekend.
Pulled up and immediately noticed a 15 gallon water jug on the ground next to a table it had been sitting on. It was full, around 120lbs so the wind didn't blow it off. Hmmm.....
Then found a 5 gallon can of diesel on its side and the tarp removed from the generator.

I had left a game camera there for grins and voila! Pics of the vandals

No real damage done, just curious I guess. Surprised they didn't mess with the BBQ grills. BTW the growth one is checking out in the first pic is some deer corn that sprouted in the gravel..

 

[dave1949]

Nice pics. I am surprized they didn't mess with the grills too. Makes me wonder if you are one of those commie vegans?

 

[NSBound]

Humph! Bears are OK as long as they don't hang around people and do damage. Critter cams are fun, and it's interesting to see what time of the night they are coming around. I woke up the other morning to a large dump of bear droppings right by the steps to my deck - filled with the orange berries off a mountain ash. I have no idea what time he was here but I think I'll move my camera to this area, which is also near some bird feeders.

 

[Skyco]

Nice pics. I am surprized they didn't mess with the grills too. Makes me wonder if you are one of those commie vegans?

Nope! Steaks and chicken have been recently cooked on those. Maybe the bears are vegans

BTW the game cam was messed with too, they apparently came up under it out of the view of the sensor and swatted it all out of whack on the tree.
It has been remounted higher out of their reach, unless they climb

Bears are relatively uncommon in this area, lots of them deeper into the mountains, this is the first we've ever seen in 4 years of owning this land. Got lots of deer, raccoons and wild turkeys on the cam before, but no bears. We've also seen coyote scat but no pics yet. I don't usually have the cam mounted to watch the camp, I think I'll leave it there and mount my other one near the watering hole where I usually snap critter pics.

 

[dave1949]

Skyco,

Sounds like a nice area. You plan to build there someday?

There are black bear around here, but all I ever see is scat a couple times a year, usually around this time. I assume they are moving through on their way to a den area. They say black bear will den up for the winter under a fallen tree or anything that gives just a bit of cover.

The Maine Fish & Game people know how to find them. They pull the cubs out and weigh them, count them etc. while the mother is half asleep in late winter. They did a little local TV show a while back.

You must have had chicken fat on your fingers when you put the cam up Funny they would mess with that, but bears are pretty curious by nature.

Dave.

 

[jinman]

Looks like my grandkids while I'm grillin' hamburgers.

Nice photos! I bet you secure your stuff a little better from now on. You were lucky to not have more damage.

 

[NSBound]

Skyco,

They say black bear will den up for the winter under a fallen tree or anything that gives just a bit of cover. The Maine Fish & Game people know how to find them. They pull the cubs out and weigh them, count them etc. while the mother is half asleep in late winter. They did a little local TV show a while back.

Here's an intersting bit done recently on a Canadian TV show about this very thing - - - - YouTube - Rick Mercer: Black Bear Cubs

 

[Skyco]

Yes, the plan was to build there and retire, of course with the economy all gone to hades that plan is on hold, not even sure I'll have a job next year

I don't know how deep the bears even den up there, doesn't get all that cold unless a lot farther in the mountains. This land is right near the border of NC/SC. In 4 years I think it has barely even gotten into the teens there.

Fascinating creatures though, now that I've confirmed their presence I plan to study up on them some more. I do know the entire NC mountain area has had a lot more bear/human conflicts since rainfall has been way down for a few years, thereby affecting the food supply for them. This particular county has almost no reported bear harvest unlike some other counties deeper into the mountains.

I'm not one to shoot an animal for the heck of it, but I think I may have to start carrying my 40 or 45 around up there on the hip instead of just a 38 snubbie or 380 auto in the pocket

 

[dave1949]

Yes, the plan was to build there and retire, of course with the economy all gone to hades that plan is on hold, not even sure I'll have a job next year

Hang in there, it will turn around one of these days I hope. You are not alone in having your plans on hold. Heard that from others on here too.

True story: When I was 8 yrs. old (1957) we took a family vacation trip out west. While we were camping at Yellowstone, the people a couple sites over spread out their lunch and then all left to wash up I guess.

A small bear came along and started helping himself. My father, in all his wisdom, told me to take some empty pans and go over there and bang 'em together to scare it off.

So I did that. The bear took one look at me and started after me. I set all kind of world records getting back to our camp site. He only chased me about half way thank goodness. Course my Dad is trying not to laugh while my Mom was giving him H...

Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Here's an intersting bit done recently on a Canadian TV show about this very thing - - - - YouTube - Rick Mercer: Black Bear Cubs

Great video, thanks NSBound.

 

[Skyco]

Back about 72 or so my college roommate and I were camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park one November. Some people near us had gone off for the day and left food in their tent. A black bear came along and destroyed their tent getting a loaf of bread out of the remains. No amount of yelling and pot banging made any difference whatsoever to that bear.
The people eventually returned to a worthless tent, packed up and left. They were not happy, but it was their fault for not heeding the signs in the campground.
I was in the Rockies once when a raccoon stole our lunch meat right out of our ice chest, then calmly sat in a tree, took it out of the bag and ate it, dropping the bag on the ground. I have a pic of him somewhere sitting in the tree munching away...this was one of those old metal ice chests that had a cam/lever lock on the lid he undid without hesitation.


BTW I looked up the total for bear harvest/hunting in the county, there were 16 total in the last 10 years. Some years there were none and never over 3. Wow- and I had 2 at once! Bear season starts on the 12th.......
One county deeper in the mountains had over 800 in the same period, with quite few over 500!

http://www.ncwildlife.org/Wildlife_Species_Con/Black_Bear/Mountain_Bear_Harvest.pdf

 

[dave1949]

No amount of yelling and pot banging made any difference whatsoever to that bear.

Yeah, I think in my case the bear wasn't going to let a scrawny 8 yr old beat him out of his lunch.

Park bears probably aren't all that spooked by people. And like you say, if you leave food around, you've got it coming.

I just looked up the Maine bear harvest. 2,719 for the state in 2008. Two in my town. More bears further north on the paper company lands.

Until 4 yrs ago, the harvest was averaging close to 3,700. Lot of debate recently about allowing hunting over bait. (Usually a pile of day old bakery goods you train the bear to eat from before hunting season begins.) There are limits on when you can begin putting out the bait. Maine hunting laws are based upon the concept of 'fair chase', which is debatable when you are piling up old donuts.

Dave.

 

[silverdollar6]

which is debatable when you are piling up old donuts.




Careful you don`t catch a cop.

 

[irvingj]

Skyco-- as Ive been having some problems with nigh visitors lately... I've considered a "game cam" set-up.

What's yours? Any suggestions? (Seems like there's a boatload of choices out there, some of which aren't worth much, apparently.)

 

[Thomas]

There's good chance they shall return,and be carefull you don't have food smell etc. on cam or you my not have cam..bear destory one of my game cam

Both of my game have been improve for longer life.

 

[Skyco]

irving J

The bear pics were taken with an IR (no visible flash) Moultrie. here-MOULTRIE GAME SPY 4.0 IR GAME CAMERA



I also have an older Moultrie with a visible flash. similar to the one here-MOULTRIE GAME SPY 4.0 GAME CAMERA except mine is older runs on 6v lantern batteries and is lower pixel count.



I picked up a $100 IR unit at Sams Club a few weeks back, it was terrible and I returned it. here it is at Academy- WILDVIEW TGL3IR GAME CAMERA

Then I bought a $89 IR at Academy here- WILDGAME INNOVATIONS 4.0MP IR DIGITAL GAME CAMERA it works ok for the money, certainly a low price for an IR unit. Way better than the one above.
Biggest complaint is it runs on C cells, I hate C cells, rather have AA or D since they are much more common.

 

[irvingj]

Thanks Skyco, I've bookmarked it. Thomas--- directions! Gotta come over & see your camera set-up! PM me-- WBB

 

[Skyco]

Well a different set of bears appeared and again knocked over the water tank, they broke a 1 inch nylon strap to do it too.
I had repositioned the camera to include the water tank.
I have been puzzled what the fascination is with the water tank until it hit me.
I keep it covered with a black plastic trash bag to prevent sun damage to the tank, I think the bears have learned to associate trash bag with food
This time one of them chewed the spigot off and spilled all the water and bit a hole in the hose.

Anyway it is now uncovered so we'll see if they leave it alone.

 

[RadarTech]

Hey Skyco...
I live right up the road in Saluda...
I drive to Inman 3-4 times a week for work...

We really need to catch up and meet sometime.. Maybe I can swing by your place and check it for you from time to time...


Sorry to hear about the damage.. where I live we had a single bear that seems to have disappeared......... rumors abound about why....


Later,
J

 

[jinman]

Skyco, I think I'd spray the insides of some plastic bags with some pure cleaning ammonia and leave those sitting around. That way, maybe the bears will attack those and get a blast of ammonia that will retrain them to associate displeasure with plastic bags. Don't know for sure. . . .