Bear Tales

We have officially seen our first bear around town. We've spotted a few here and there in the wild from the safe distance behind a vehicle's window, but nothing around town.

Which is saying something. The city limits of Anchorage house more than 200 bears known to Fish and Game. To attract a bear with your garbage is a $200 fine. In fact, my friend saw bears go through her neighborhood 6 different times in two summer. Her neighborhood is about 1 mile from me, and closer to the busy-ness of the highway. So we've counted it as a blessing that we have not had any bear encounters in our neck of the woods.

I constantly wonder how much or how little I should let David play outside. Yes, he plays in our creek. But it's only 12 inches across and doesn't have fish of any size to draw feeding bears. One-quarter mile down the road is a much larger branch of the Campbell Creek that is big enough to draw bears. And draw bears it does. Some parents agree with my approach to allow him outdoor play, and others do not. To each their own.

On July 3, we awoke to our trash strewn all over our driveway. We had landscaping trash in the garbage can that prevented it from properly latching, so a bear found a meal in our driveway. They emptied two bags of garbage, strewn all over, and really licked every last baby food jar clean. The landscaping trash included a bunch--like a ton--of rocks, so the bear was unable to knock the can over and reach anything beneath the rocks (the can was actually too heavy for the truck to pick up, so that weight was very substantial). Sam did a thorough job of cleaning up the trash and pouring bleach water on our driveway to try and get the food smells off our property. 

The next night, I awoke to the sound of thumping around. I peered out the window, and figured out that a bear was getting in to our neighbor's trash can. They were knocking the trash can around between the cars on the driveway and the garage door, so the noise was very loud. I awoke Sam so he could watch it with me. As it turned out, because of the angles of our windows and the cars in the driveway next door, the only way we could watch the bear show was to lean out the kitchen window while balancing around the sink. I think the neighbors across the street were probably just as entertained with our perch as they were with the bear licking clean the trash can next door.

To Sam's credit, his thorough cleaning paid off. The bear did not seem to pay any attention to our driveway or our can on that second night. We awoke again late last week to our garbage can tipped over with new claw marks etched into the lid--but this time the bear couldn't get inside because the latch was on.

So we have a bear proof garbage can. It looks mostly like other city garbage containers, but it has a latch that can withstand a bear's curiosity. Our little culdesac has been known to have bears on it. In fact, our neighbor told us that our front porch used to be a spot that one local bear liked to take a nap. Can you imagine? Neither could we. Apparently previous owners were lazy with their trash, so the bear would come to our property to have a free meal, then curl up on the porch for a nap.

When I moved into this neighborhood, I decided that we would pay for a bear proof can at any cost. You can imagine my surprise when I called to inquire about the upgrade. I winced as I thought of how high the price could hike, then laughed in disbelief when I was told that a bear proof can was only $2/month more than a regular can. We are the only ones on our street with the specialized can . . . it would be nice if the neighbors paid the upcharge as well. 

I'm mostly used to the idea that we live in bear country. It doesn't paralyze me with fear like it used to. But we always apply caution whenever we can. I listen for the neighborhood dogs, and they will alert me to a moose during the daytime hours. And I pray for protection to be upon our family. Oh, how I pray.