eventually. We have the usual furry neighborhood pets - stray cats, stray dogs, rabbits, squirrels, racoons, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and bears. Not that big of a deal here on the Front Range.

So, I sit down every evening to keep up on XMarks, read a few things on the web. Then go out and get the 4 bird feeders off the deck. We've had the occasional racoon get to them so have cages etc and bring them in at night.

Well, last night I just HAD to read that last article. Turned off the lights and headed to the door. THUMP Glanced out but couldn't see anything so I turned on the deck light. Sure enough, there was the 3 year old cinnamon colored black bear going after the feeders. As any of you know that get around bears, no matter how much noice, no matter how many lights, no matter how much we tried, we couldn't get him to leave. Well, not until he had destroyed one feeder, spun the bottom off the hummingbird feeder and cleaned up the nector, and finally yanked down and emptied a third feeder. Not sure why he left the thistle alone. My wife kept wanting to grab the broom and poke him with it. Aaaa...no dear, I don't want to have to go get the claymore to get him off of you.

At least it was entertaining watching him try to get the feeder down that he ended up destroying. It had a squirrel cage on it. After trying to yank it down, knock it down or just pull down the branch it was on, he finally pull the bottom off. Then after fighting it some more he pulled the rest of the cage off. He never did get it off the branch but I still need a new one.

Oh well, lesson learned (pick the one you like best). 1. Bring the feeders in BEFORE it is full dark. or 2. Carry the claymore with you when you go out to bring the feeders in.