Bear question (Londonderry, Littleton: mover, house, moving)

[NH2NCMom]

Just wondering about ya girl, it's first peacocks, turkeys and now bear? oh geez - we knew this board was somewhat of a zoo but you certainly are giving it y'all LOL D2D Wild Kingdom hehehehe

ok back to the seriousness of the issue (just had to provide some comical relief along with the 4th of july post )

[bryfry]

We've encountered bears a few times in our place in the Berkshires. One was a 400+ pound momma just up from her long nap. Not a big deal, but she did walk right up to the back slider! One just happened recently, and it was a 200 pound 18 month old male. It was interested in the bird feeder and just nosing around. It had blue ear tags, and we called the local game warden and he said it was actually from Conneticut. We aren't that far from the border, so it didn't surprise us. Bears can travel pretty far. It was still young, so it hadn't established a territory yet. I'm sure it will soon as it finds a mate.

Most will run if you start yelling. If it were cornered, I bet it would fight-survival instinct. I wouldn't worry about it. It kind of startles you at first to see one in the wild, but it's not a big deal. Kind of neat to actually watch them, that is until they tear your $100 bird feeder to splinters. Oh well.

[NH2NCMom]

Ok Bryfry has helped me think of a new name for our resident zoo keeper Marlin Perkins (yes I'm showing my age - and so isn't Bry LOL)

brought to you by Mutual of Omaha - this is Wild Kingdom hosted by our own Marlin Perkins Dare2Dream

[DareToDream]

Oh lordy - I know this is getting rather bizarre with all the wildlife around the house! Last year all we had were a couple of moose, deer and turkeys in the yard. Now the bear! Oh yeah, we also had a skunk the dog tangled with at 11 p.m.....that was fun ... NOT!

It's really weird to me, because we're so close to town! When we rented the farmhouse, we were 5 miles out of town and I think the landlord had something like 15 acres of land around the house, most of it wooded and the only thing we saw there was a flock of turkeys once and a beautiful fox. No moose, no deer, no bears, no peacock sounds, no nasty smells, no skunks, etc.

Just call it Wild Kingdom hosted by the Crazy Lady on the hill!

[fishnfool]

Basically I would agree with what the others posted. The VERY first thing to do is get that dumpster taken care of along with you and your neighbors trash. A bear trained to search for trash is a problem bear. If you remove the food, the bear will move on.

As for the dog, you shouldn't have to worry at all about the bear taking the dog. If anything, the dog would be a pretty good bear deterrant. Both north american bears are mostly vegetarian but black bears much much more than browns/grizzlys. A black bear will very very very rarely attack a healthy adult animal for food. It would probably run away from dog the first chance it could. It would be a different scenario if the bear was corned however.

The noise may work, but the fact that your bear has been hanging out in the neighborhood for a few days, and you don't live in some Unabomber cabin in the middle of nowhere, would make me think the bear is quite used to people and the noise associated with a more urban environment......probably because of the food.

Just keep an eye out, be mindful of it, GET RID OF THE FOOD/TRASH, and you won't have any problems. Keep in mind though that it is a wild animal and it is always unpredictable, ragardless of how "predicable" bear behavior usually is.

Take some pics if you see it. I have yet to see a bear in NH......saw one VERY close up on a hike in virginia though once. I don't want to repeat that encounter but I'd love to see another.

[Colebrook]

Dare,


The pie plates on a string has worked for years. Buck naked is right on that as well as talking to the dumpster guy to get an animal proof lid for the dumpster.
Reps to you Buck

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by DareToDream

Oh lordy - I know this is getting rather bizarre with all the wildlife around the house! Last year all we had were a couple of moose, deer and turkeys in the yard. Now the bear! Oh yeah, we also had a skunk the dog tangled with at 11 p.m.....that was fun ... NOT!

It's really weird to me, because we're so close to town! When we rented the farmhouse, we were 5 miles out of town and I think the landlord had something like 15 acres of land around the house, most of it wooded and the only thing we saw there was a flock of turkeys once and a beautiful fox. No moose, no deer, no bears, no peacock sounds, no nasty smells, no skunks, etc.

Just call it Wild Kingdom hosted by the Crazy Lady on the hill!

Maybe if you leave a picnic basket outside for Yogi and BooBoo bear, they will take it and leave. haha. Just kidding.... DON'T FEED THE BEARS or you'll never get rid of them.

[NH2NCMom]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

Maybe if you leave a picnic basket outside for Yogi and BooBoo bear, they will take it and leave. haha. Just kidding.... DON'T FEED THE BEARS or you'll never get rid of them.

Now we were talking about Yogi and BooBoo on another thread with Boo LOL...see we all get entertwined - then again, I have a hard time keeping Boo, Dare and Wanna straight (I just try and remember boo has the pics!)

Sounds like great suggestions Dare - all I can say is bear hamburg is DANG GOOD but I think shooting them is illegal (at least this time of year hehehe).

And use tomato juice for the dog and the skunk.

[DareToDream]

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions! I think my husband and the neighbor who told us about the bear are going to go down and speak with the family with the dumpster - we've never met them, and I don't think our neighbor has either...hopefully they will be receptive.

Our trash is kept in a shed in a garbage can and so far no signs of anything trying to get in there, so I would guess we're okay there, since this would be the bear's first "stop" on his way to foraging. We don't really throw out much, so there wouldn't be anything there to attract him/her, really. Oddly enough, Monday is the day the garbage guys come through and everyone has their stuff out in the morning - that's not a day the bear was seen.

Hubby is going to rig up a noise maker by the door we take the dog out so we can "hit it" and get it moving before we venture out with her.

Don't worry, I have no intention of setting up a picnic table and basket for Yogi and BooBoo....I like having company, but that's carrying things a bit too far!

As for tomato juice with the dog and the skunk, we tried that and it took some of the smell away, but what worked even better was Nature's Miracle (I think that was the name) - that stuff is amazing!

If I get to see the bear, I'll get pictures - so far he/she has only come through when I've been working and I didn't even know he/she was out there!

[GregW]

My in-laws were camping and saw a bear molesting the garbage cans. When the family dog noticed, he buried himself as far into the camper as possible and whined until the bear went away. My M-I-L said she had never seen an animal so frightened.

I have not seen any bears (that weren’t in cars with flashing blue lights) in Londonderry but they are quite common around the family farm near Littleton