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Funny, I'm thinking about relocating to either NC or SC and am concerned about snakes, bears never crossed my mind. We have bears where we are in VT. Never had any issues with them, although, one horse farm had a bear go into their barn and kill one of the foals after coming out of hibernation.
They can be a big pain if you leave out bird feeders or trash. I've found, though, that if you have large dogs, they tend to be a deterrent and the bears find an easier place to get food.
Funny, I'm thinking about relocating to either NC or SC and am concerned about snakes, bears never crossed my mind. We have bears where we are in VT. Never had any issues with them, although, one horse farm had a bear go into their barn and kill one of the foals after coming out of hibernation.
They can be a big pain if you leave out bird feeders or trash. I've found, though, that if you have large dogs, they tend to be a deterrent and the bears find an easier place to get food.
There are some informative posts here on the NC forum about snakes in every area of NC, as well as on the SC forum. If you use the "search" features at the top of the threads based on your choice of location, you will get some good answers. Other than: Yes ! we have snakes. Venomous and non-venomous. Even a quick Google search for "venomous snakes in ____ ", will be a big help and may also direct you to the threads here on CD.
Yup, bears are everywhere you learn to coexist. We have a Mom and 2 cubs around now so far no issues but we follow Living With Bears 101: no outside trash cans, put trash out day of pick up, bird feeders in EVERY night, no grill left outside, no dog/cat food outside, make noise when you walk in the woods, if your dog chases a bear hope for the best but don't intervene. Any other words of wisdom? Those who have lived here awhile forget newbies aren't accustomed to wildlife so up close and personal. Most of us feel priviliged to share habitat.
Good advice. A lot of people don't think about the bird feeders.
Good advice. A lot of people don't think about the bird feeders.
We forgot 1x until about 10 p.m. and I heard my husband open and shut deck door very fast with a slam and yelling bears! Two bears were demolishing our feeders and bending the iron bars that held them double. We watched as they strolled to end of the deck and over the edge. After a few minutes we went out to collect what was left and they were under the deck huffing and shuffling around, very weird to hear them underneath you. We put the pieces in the garage and have never made that mistake again....getting dark and in they go! If we are going to be gone birds get cut off early!
Dogs do help, even our old small dog barking makes them leave. We have a second story upstairs deck and he feels very brave giving them ****from his safe high perch where he can't become snack food.
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Hummer feeders, too...our stray large male, that his mother has not managed to drive off in 3 yrs, tore up four hummer feeders at our neighbor's house the other day.
The bear had to climb a two story 8 x 8 deck post, (easy stuff for the bear), and did a good job spilling out and licking up all of the sugar water. The feeders were toast, however.
I have seen him once this season, from a distance, on my morning slog up the Mtn. He is getting larger by the year.
Have only seen Mom once this season; I think she may have changed locations for the summer.
GL, mD
Hummer feeders, too...our stray large male, that his mother has not managed to drive off in 3 yrs, tore up four hummer feeders at our neighbor's house the other day.
The bear had to climb a two story 8 x 8 deck post, (easy stuff for the bear), and did a good job spilling out and licking up all of the sugar water. The feeders were toast, however.
I have seen him once this season, from a distance, on my morning slog up the Mtn. He is getting larger by the year.
Have only seen Mom once this season; I think she may have changed locations for the summer.
GL, mD
Hummer feeders, too...our stray large male, that his mother has not managed to drive off in 3 yrs, tore up four hummer feeders at our neighbor's house the other day.
The bear had to climb a two story 8 x 8 deck post, (easy stuff for the bear), and did a good job spilling out and licking up all of the sugar water. The feeders were toast, however.
I have seen him once this season, from a distance, on my morning slog up the Mtn. He is getting larger by the year.
Have only seen Mom once this season; I think she may have changed locations for the summer.
GL, mD
MD, how does the bear get down ? shimmy down? I never stuck around long enough to figure that out.
The several times he/they have been on our deck, after climbing up our 20+ foot 8 x 8s like a Swat Team, he/they simply wandered or hurried off to the lower deck and jumped onto a nearby tree, shimmed down and waddled off...
They are big/heavy but very, very athletic, adroit and freakin fearless when they choose to make an escape.
They would be all of those also, in choosing to pursue vs retreat.
14+ yrs of seeing them, observing them up here on the mtn has given me serious respect for their capabilities and smarts, and huge 'woods speed' and remarkable sense of smell.
Although they are mostly herbivorous, they are the apex animal here in western NC...analogous to the mtn gorilla: eats and sleeps all day, but no other animal will take them on, imo.
GL, mD
mD you are so right they are amazing animals! For something so large they can haul through tough terrain with amazing speed and agility. Luckily our upper deck supports are from the side of the house rather than ground up. This year we are seeing more bears than usual so as much as we love watching them we are using an airhorn if we catch them up by the house. Sadly our lab who served as our loudmouth warning system is gone. The little old guy left gives it his best shot but 25 lbs doesn't carry the same threat as 100 lbs of "you better get out of here" For those of you that enjoy seeing wildlife I would suggest a critter cam, for the money they are great fun.
Roadpony i don't think your being an alarmist....weird stuff happens....every year there are a few shark bites on the beach I go to if I go to the beach. We swam in the river where we had to do a gator scan before we anchored. Just looking out for the ones you can SEE. We've walked up on a timber rattler with 11 rattles while walking in the Francis Marion national forest....fortunately it was only a warmer February day and he was only interested in the warmth of the sun. Your article only reiterates when you're in their world there are risks.
We had a fabulous visit. Saw many beautiful houses. No wonder y'all are so proud of where you live. We can't wait to be neighbors! The whole area is absolutely gorgeous. Y'all have been so helpful and I realized some of your advice was so spot on........y'all are the best!
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