A very large black bear just tore down all our feeders and is methodically cracking them open to empty them. It is very unimpressed by my marine air horn. This is our third bear incursion on the feeders over the past couple years. I think our bird feeding days may be over. Rick Wilton

Rick - don't despair, you can thwart the bears and enjoy the birds!  I have a high wire from the top of the house to a tree, which works on a pulley and ratchet, easy to raise and lower and as long as I raise it high enough, the bears cannot reach the three or four feeders having from it.  I'll send you a photo.  Wood thrush singing in the dark as I write (8:32pm) Angela Dimmitt New Milford -----Original Message----- From: Rick Kenneally via CTBirds <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org Sent: Tue, May 17, 2022 7:22 pm Subject: [CT Birds] Bad evening in Wilton A very large black bear just tore down all our feeders and is methodically cracking them open to empty them. It is very unimpressed by my marine air horn. This is our third bear incursion on the feeders over the past couple years. I think our bird feeding days may be over. Rick Wilton CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/ CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/

With no disrespect to Rick or anyone else, I urge folks in bear areas to take down the feeders. Mine have been down since late March, and before that I brought them in every night. Now I bring in the hummingbird feeder at night. I love the bears almost as much as the birds, and I know that a fed bear is a dead bear. I had a favorite bear two years ago -- Millie -- she'd been coming for two years, very polite, calm, and too fond of sunflower seeds. And then someone stored some seed and dog food on a porch and she learned how to get onto a porch. And then, suddenly, she was gone. We all know what happened and it makes me very sad. And all of us who had feeders and taught her to eat food in our yards carries some of the responsibility for her death. So please, take down the feeders. Let's just let the bears stay wild and alive. Sarah Faulkner Collinsville > On 05/17/2022 7:22 PM Rick Kenneally via CTBirds <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote: > > > A very large black bear just tore down all our feeders and is methodically cracking them open to empty them. It is very unimpressed by my marine air horn. > > This is our third bear incursion on the feeders over the past couple years. I think our bird feeding days may be over. > > Rick > Wilton > > CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/ > CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/