Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 24 : Spring 2015 | Page 21

although peanut butter seems to be a favorite. Once mama
bear smelled our trash, she and her cubs dined al fresco
in our yard. Hunger and crankiness gave mama bear the
extra adrenaline boost she needed to detach the recently
reinforced doors from the shed. After two more visits, we
finally admitted defeat. We purchased the leak proof, dent
and weather resistant Rubbermaid © 3747 storage shed.
Add a padlock and even a bear will not harm it. Right.
Late one night a couple of weeks later we heard a
commotion outside. My husband, suspecting it was
the bear went to the window to gloat as he watched her
fruitlessly attempt to break into the new shed. Instead
he saw a dilapidated shed and a huge bear with her nose
in a peanut butter jar. After finishing her peanut butter
appetizer she returned to the shed, grabbed a bag of trash
and carried it off into the woods. Well, I guess she showed
us. Bear five, Bowkers, zero.
Finally, we learned our lesson; when the bears are awake
keep the trash in the garage. But, our troubles with the
bear were not quite finished. The next dirty deed occurred
when we were out of town. Our welcome home consisted
of empty, demolished birdfeeders. Even the thick metal
pole had been ripped out of the ground. Either we had
a huge bird or, more likely, the bear had made one more
visit.
So, why are we irresponsible? Why shouldn’t we put our
trash outside? Why can’t we feed the birds in the spring?
Our experiences with trash and birdfeeders should be
obvious reasons for not placing your trash outside and
leaving your birdfeeders up when bears are active. The
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
recommends keeping trash in a secure area, taking
birdfeeders down and keeping grills cleaned and free of
grease from April to October, the time period when bears
are most active. If you haven’t learned from our mistakes
and insist on fighting nature the department recommends
placing electric fences or mats around trash cans and
birdfeeders. Seems a bit extreme, and mean, to me. As the
department points out, most of the encounters with black
bears are caused by the bears taking advantage of human
irresponsibility. There’s that word again, irresponsibility. It
cannot be any clearer. Bears are opportunists and if you
make it easy for them, they are going to take advantage
of the situation. As Jellystone Park’s Ranger Smith said,
Don’t feed the bears, because like Yogi and Boo Boo, they
will steal your picnic basket.
SPRING 2015

19