There I was minding my own business, doing some cool stuff with my new toy when …
… let’s back the story up a bit shall we?
This winter, for financial reasons, and the fact that we’re still working on the last of the additions to our travel trailer, we decided not to put it in storage.
Part of the whole ‘winterising’ thing we need to do to keep it here is to have some sort of protection between the tires and the ground, or in our case, gravel.
Cue me and my new table saw, cutting this honking great slab of wood we’ve had lying around doing nothing to earn its keep, in two, knocking off the flange, and putting a 45° on each of the ends so the RV can roll easily on and off them.
Farewell flanges
I love my table saw
As I was taking a well-earned tea-break, with feet up and heater on …
You can’t tell but the rain was pelting down outside. I felt rather smug and snug
… I happened to glance across to the far corner of the garden, where the compost bins are stored.
We have a very simple compost system – fill one bin up with layers of kitchen scraps, garden waste, and poor-ish topsoil which we get from the supplier just up the road – then fill the next bin, and so on. By the time we need the first one empty again, its contents have been fully worm-erated and ready to sit in the open-air compost pile until needed. It’s a dead-easy, no work, system that’s survived the depredations of a mama racoon and her seasonally renewed offspring-ings for … goodness me, how long have we been here now? Almost ten years!
The word had gone around the neighbourhood that a black bear had been seen cavorting among the trees elsewhere on the island.
It’s not a very big island, and the lake surrounding it is rather shallow this time of year, so it wouldn’t’ve taken Madame, or Monsieur, Bruin, too much effort to come a’visiting. What is somewhat surprising is that the land surrounding the lake is well and truly domesticated, with housing developments and farmlands, but I suppose a bear’s gonna do what a bear’s gonna do.
And come a’visiting our Ursine friend certainly did.
No puny plastic garbage bin will stop me!
I didn’t think I’d need a sturdier composting storage system, but it seems that now I do.
Widdershins Worlds 
Black bears are very polite creatures – put a small sign on top of each bin asking that the lid be closed carefully after inspection. It’s worked for me here in England, I’ve yet to have a problem with black bears in my bins.
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That’ll work! 😀 … and we Canadians are world-renowned for our politeness!
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In another month, they should be hibernating.
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That’s what I’m hoping … which will give me time to figure out what to do next year. 🙂
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Poor thing must be hungry… I was hoping for a picture!
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Our little friend is a Midnight Marauder, so no pics, unfortunately. 🙂
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Shame…
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You will have to hope that the bear doesn’t avail himself of the lovely wooden slope you have installed
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Probably use it as a scratching post! 😀
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Well that’s not very neighbourly! Bruin not you.
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I wasn’t impressed when I saw it, but the pouring rain won out and I left the mess there to deal with another day. Perhaps Bruin will return and tidy up! 😀
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That’s one problem I don’t have with my three rotating compost bins ( and I hate to boast, but they are much bigger than yours, though probably not bear proof ) in my nature corner with insect and hedgehog hotel ( piles of sticks ), but I did find a rat nest when extracting compost to plant my bulbs ! Don’t tell the neighbours.
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Heheheheheh. Yay for bigger bins! 😀 … my lips are sealed! 😀
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Kind of puts my squirrel problem into the shade…
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Our poor squirrels have to constantly guard their hoards from marauding Stellar Jays and crows. 🙂
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All bears should be at the salmon streams right now?
I’ve always said If you want to see a bear, compost.
Now that It knows about your compost location,It’ll be back…….just like Arnold.
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Memories like elephants, they have. 😦 … I truly hope it was passing through, but I doubt it. The only good news is it’s the tail-end of their foraging season.
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they are like Trappers on their trap line. Your compost spot has been added.
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Yep, we’re done fer! 😀
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Yep and Nop……….two words “Bear Board”.
I use them and they work perfect!
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Bear board?
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Everybody has different ways of making them I suppose? I cut a 4X8 sheet of plywood into 4 sections. Draw a 2 inch grid and put screws where the lines meet. I used drywall screws (1 1/4″). I think each board had around 250 screws in each board.
This btw does not harm them. I’ve got video of a bear standing on top of it wondering what it is?
Lay them around your compost so the bear cannot reach it.
You won’t have anymore problems.
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Bear boards! Bloody brilliant! 😀
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I got the idea from seeing a video shot in Churchhill. People put nails through boards, turn them upside down and nailed them to their steps to keep the Polars out of their cabins.
I modified it of course but they work beautifully!
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Definitely want to keep the Polars out of the house, 🙂
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Nothing clever to say, except don’t get between a bear and its breakfast. That drive to fatten up before hibernating – or maybe even before winter – is very strong and not to be messed with, even for otherwise shy bears.
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Whenever we go out the back after dark now, we do a cautious peep around the door first.
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We get quite a few wild animals here in Florida
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They do come as a bit of a surprise though. 🙂
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For sure
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What a mess! Sorry spilled your compost. We had far more bears in our area this year than our other 15 summers, and they stayed all summer not just wandered about early in the season. My brother suggested it was because the area was exceptionally dry so they were clinging to the rivers.
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I think this one also decided the pickings were good around here too. 😦
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Sorry about that… We were lucky enough to see our prowler drinking from the river without having any upsets to our yard or garbage cans. Maybe they’ll go to sleep soon?
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The temps are dropping rapidly at the moment, so hopefully it’ll be very soon.
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I feel rather inadequate moaning about parakeets pecking my sunflower heads. Oh and the fox crapping on the waste bin… we do our wildlife in miniature her in teeny weeny England. And some call us small minded!
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I wonder what sort of statement the fox was making? 😀
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I fear its breaking thr rules on inappropriate use of faeces on a garden context
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Yeah, if the sandman visits soon, that’ll buy you some time to figure out a new process.
Also wouldn’t want to run into ANY bear. Eeek.
No bears in my old neighborhood, but unfortunately, coyotes used to regularly consume the neighborhood pets for lunch. 😦
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I think our local bald eagle community may have had the same effect around here.
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Oof. Even worse! Peeing on a tree one minute, inexplicably up in the air flying over the neighborhood the next.? Eeeeek
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It’s ruin your whole day! 😀
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PLEASE watch this clip: this could be your backyard 😉
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Pole dancing – bear style!!! 😀
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Ugh, what a mess. Commiserations. And a bit of worry too. Aren’t those bears rather big…and dangerous??
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Only if you act like an idiot around them … a bit like OZ, 😀 … only there are whole lot more dangerous critters to be aware of there. 😀
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lol – true, but dem dere bears be so big!
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I know that bears can make a mess, but how fun to have one roaming around the neighborhood. And your smug and snug photo is great. Definitely gives off that feeling.
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I grew up with kerosene heaters, not as fancy as this one, so I have a certain nostalgia for them. 🙂
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I did too. We just converted to gas heat from wood heat (getting to old for all that lugging and stacking). I miss my wonderful woodstove. The good old days.
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Our species is hard-wired, I think, to appreciate an open flame for warmth and comfort. 🙂
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That would be so convenient. I’m jealous. We’ve just graduated to the 20th century. 🙂
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