Da Bears

Black bears are one of the many types of wildlife that make their home in the Catskills.  And throughout my childhood, it was always a big deal if someone were to actually see one.  We knew that they were around, but they mostly stayed away from populated areas unless there was a drought.

In the last few years, there has apparently been a bear population explosion because now they are everywhere.  People send out memos on the best methods to prevent bears wreaking havoc on their property.  But still, we had never seen any signs of one near our house.

So... one night we were playing Scategories and being quite loud.  After the game wrapped up, I went to take out the trash, but thankfully looked out the window before going outside.  The big wooden box in which we place our trash cans in order to prevent animal intrusion was literally upended, and trash was everywhere.  We were a little freaked out but also excited.  O.k., Andy and I were excited.  Madeline was already high-tailing it upstairs so that the bear wouldn't get her.

We told Katie the next morning thinking that she would share in our excitement.  A real live bear at our house!  Cool!  She didn't really share in our enthusiasm.  Andy spent the rest of the trip telling her not to be afraid because the Bears are in Chicago.  Nice one, Dad.

We had heard that spraying the trash with Febreeze is a good deterrent, so I kept our trash bin as springtime fresh as possible for the remainder of our time there, and that seemed to do the trick.  (Apparently bears do not like floral-scented garbage.)  At least until our last night there.  The next morning the box was once again knocked over, and we had a cleanup job to do.  Andy volunteered to take care of things.  But when he walked out the door, he got more than he bargained for.  To add insult to injury, the bear had pooped on our back stoop.  We suspect that this must have been an adolescent bear.  Thank goodness he didn't have a paper bag and a lighter.