Bear Trouble

[MossRoad]

This was a news report from before last spring, telling why so many bears are in Taho now. Interesting.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thanks Moss

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks Moss

If it makes you feel any better, we have rabbit and woodchuck problems…

Not too many of those bust the door down, though.

 

[cqaigy2]

Interesting reporting on the bear issue in Lake Tahoe

 

[Eagle1]

Raccoon for us. I guess having a 12 acre pond with a creek in and out, and a few smaller ponds is pretty much coon heaven.

 

[MossRoad]

If it makes you feel any better, we have rabbit and woodchuck problems…

Not too many of those bust the door down, though.

Thinking about it, we did have a male raccoon that tried to dig through the roof in half a dozen places. Did thousands in damage. It was our fault, as we fed it when it was little. Once he hit puberty, he got mean and smart. Broke in through the screens. So we had to keep the windows closed (no air in the house). Would meet us at the doors and try to get in. Then started digging holes in the tar and gravel roof.

My father got the DNR to trap it and they let it go at a state park, where it probably raided trash cans and campers for the rest of its life.

 

[2manyrocks]

Do raccoon take on the personality of their caretakers?

 

[MossRoad]

Do raccoon take on the personality of their caretakers?

This little dude kept coming around every evening and we’d feed it a snack. It would sit in your lap, let you pet it, play tag with the dogs, ride around on your shoulder while you walked. Pretty comical. Well, a month or so later, and it started reaching in your pockets, pulling at your clothes, climbing up on you every time you appeared in the yard. So we thought maybe we should stop feeding it. Well, then it would chase you across the yard anytime you drove up. You’d literally have to fight it to get in the house without it coming in behind you through your legs. It knew there was food in that house.

After a week or so of that, my sister woke up in bed one night and it was sitting on her stomach! She opened up an umbrella and chased it out of the house. We could not figure out how it got in. Hour later it was in the kitchen. We chased it out again. Later that day I was sitting in the kitchen and it came running past me! Chased it out again.

I was in my bedroom later that afternoon doing homework. I got up from my chair, turned off the timer that I had a radio plugged into, and went to the bathroom. Came back from the bathroom and the radio was on! What the heck? Looked around and saw a pillow from the top bunk bed had fallen off onto the timer cord and knocked it onto the floor, turning it on. Then noticed a striped tail sticking out from under the bed.

Chased it out of the house again, and followed it around to my bedroom, where it scaled the wall, and pushed in a screen in an upper window and went right back into the house. We’d never looked at the upper windows.

So from that point on, we only opened the crank out windows 2”. It shredded the screens trying to get in. So we closed the windows. Then it started attacking the roof. That’s when my dad decided to call the DNR and explain the situation.

Most people would have shot it, but my folks were not gonna do that, and that was that. Trapped and released by the DNR out at the state park.

 

[2manyrocks]

That is a great story.

 

[oosik]

I had an incident quite similar to MossRoad. It involved the coons raiding our burn barrel. It ended the day I saw my great granddaughters feeding dog food to mama coon and the babies out on our front porch. Really scared the bee-Jesus out of me.

I quit using the burn barrel - the coons went away. Greener pastures at other homes.

 

[MossRoad]

That is a great story.

Yep. And a good lesson on why it’s a bad idea to feed wildlife.

 

[ultrarunner]

We feed s lot of wildlife but not purposly.

The garden plus a dozen assorted fruit trees just too much to resist.

The peach. apricot and grapes can be stripped in a night… apples and pears a little longer with plums, figs and persimmons somewhere in the middle.

When we had the electric fence and outside dogs less of an issue…. not suppose to have fence chargers anymore…

 

[oosik]

We quit with our big garden and concentrated on apple trees only. Soft fruit - pears, cots, peaches & cherries - just don't fare well here. The yellow jackets, bees and some birds would get the soft fruit - even before the coons had much of a chance.

We have a "condition" here that can affect all young fruit trees. It's called - southwest damage or SW sun scalding. It's caused by the sun and winds which would split open the bark on the SW side of fruit trees. It can eventually kill the tree. I found that wrapping the main trunk with elastic bandage wrap or burlap would prevent most of this. I leave this wrap on the trees until they are ten years old and their bark is thicker and tougher.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thankfully at the cabin there are no fruit trees or gardens anywhere around.

Trash is in steel bear enclosures...

Of course groceries in the home or BBQ are different matters but no food is ever left at the cabin and fridge has door blocked open...

The local consensus is Bear looking for a quiet place to hang out.

Never thought about not being able to garden and then the whole thing of car damage.

I've seen some destroyed cars... high end end destroyed... not the same as a burnt out but still totalled.

 

[Dftodd]

We quit with our big garden and concentrated on apple trees only. Soft fruit - pears, cots, peaches & cherries - just don't fare well here. The yellow jackets, bees and some birds would get the soft fruit - even before the coons had much of a chance.

We have a "condition" here that can affect all young fruit trees. It's called - southwest damage or SW sun scalding. It's caused by the sun and winds which would split open the bark on the SW side of fruit trees. It can eventually kill the tree. I found that wrapping the main trunk with elastic bandage wrap or burlap would prevent most of this. I leave this wrap on the trees until they are ten years old and their bark is thicker and tougher.

Wasps would ruin our nectarines before we could get any fruit off them. Always ended up spraying the trees to late.

 

[2manyrocks]

It's ironic that the story of Goldilocks and the three bears revolves around a young girl invading the home of three peaceful bears to eat their porridge.

If only there had been three bears, this could have been "ultrarunner and the three bears." What a missed opportunity.

 

[Raul-02]

Is this really how it is in 2022...???

I reccommend a high-energy solar powered Electric Fence. All the north country beekeepers I used to know in Maine used 'em to protect their hives and they work

Electric Fences as Bear Deterrents, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

www.adfg.alaska.gov

 

[MossRoad]

I reccommend a high-energy solar powered Electric Fence. All the north country beekeepers I used to know in Maine used 'em to protect their hives and they work

Electric Fences as Bear Deterrents, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

www.adfg.alaska.gov

I think he said they’re not allowed to have electric fence chargers anymore.

May be due to fire issues in CA?

 

[Raul-02]

May be due to fire issues in CA?

That place is pure madness.

 

[MossRoad]

That place is pure madness.

Until your house burns down..