I have lived in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming for almost 5 years. My home is on a mountainside on 4 acres, bordering national forest land.

I came home last night around 6:00 and there was a bear in my front yard! We have had moose and mule deer and other critters before, but this was the first bear! I couldn't believe it! The bear ran off when I drove up, but then came back several times throughout the evening and destroyed my bird feeders. It was pretty exciting, but I'll be glad when it decides to hibernate!

oops sorry thought it was beer

Was it a black bear? We have those here in PA and they love bird feeders, garbage, dog food, chicken feed, just about anything!

It's not a grizzly. . .those are further north. It looks like a black bear but it's brown/cinnamon colored.

And we discovered it returned last night and demolished one bird feeder. My husband went to go to the detatched garage to get his car and go to work (and it's still dark out) and it was still hanging around out there, so we had to make some vehicle changes this morning. . .Yikes!!!!!!!

And here I thought this would have something to do with Natalie!

Bears are a normal sight in town during the spring/summer months here in my part of the country. They come down from the mountains looking for food.

My secretary's husband recently met up with a bear while hiking on a canyon trail. He had his dogs with him and they barked their heads off and the bear turned and ran.

Yikes...that would be scary. Be careful.

My husband and I were hiking in the UP and there were signs everywhere to watch out for bears and Bear this and Bear that. So, we are about 1 hour into the woods and I start freaking out! We had to turn around and go back! My husband was so mad at me! We never saw a bear, so he took me to a museum-like place and showed me a stuffed bear and made fun of me for being so scared, but I bet even in MI those bears can get pretty big and if it's a mama bear- WATCH OUT!

Anyway, just thought I'd share my "bear" story (even though no real bears were involved!)

We had a black bear mother and two cubs raiding a campground dumpster about 150 yards from a campsite we were staying at this past spring. I think they eventually had to capture her and the cubs and relocate them away from the campground. It was kind of unnerving to hear the lid on the dumpster slamming open and shut while we were trying to sleep.

Sarah if it's unusual for the bears to be so close to your home, you should call fish and game to see if it needs relocation. It could become dependent on your home environment and choose not to hybernate because you keep food sources handy. A bit**y bear is not something you want to play with this winter! It could also bring cubs back to your area next year which is very dangerous.

We have bears around all the time, so for us, it's no big deal, though we are all careful. Every year someone gets mauled and sometimes killed. The grizzleys are actually not normally the worst, it's the black bears, who become scavengers. They aren't always afraid of you, and can be very tempremental. If they attack, you need to fight back, verses a grizzley, who will most often just strike you (not like that's fun) but then will retreat. (Unless they're hungry, then you're toast!).

I'd call today though. It's getting too comfortable around your house, which is really dangerous. Ours will be in the brush outside the yard, but don't come into the yard after the bird feeders. If they did, we'd have fish and game over in a heart beat to move them.

If it's hungry enough to get that close...you're not in a good position, so please call!!! Young bears often do this and they are the most dangerous when they get grumpy. They will evenutally go after something else, like cats, dogs and kids if they run out of bird feed!

And if it's clear enough around those feeders to get to them and remove them do it right away! If they're close to brush though, or anywhere the bear could hide, don't do it until you call fish and game. It could be dangerous.

And if a polar bear shows up....go back inside and don't come out ever. They like the taste of sarah's

Thanks for the bear advice, Dawnie. I did call fish & game this morning and they had heard other reports of the bear being in the area. He's going to be in touch, and is hoping someone will "harvest" it since it is in season,otherwise they will look into trapping it. It is unusual for one to be so close to the house where we live.

Luckily, no Polar bears in Wyoming! I have heard that a polar bear is the only animal that seeks out man as its prey. . .????

"Harvest" is such a nice word LOL

I wouldn't want anyone "harvesting" on my property. Too many drunk hunters out there for me to be comfrotable.

LOL I figured you were safe from Polar bears But what the heck, it would be a heck of a suprise to find out one was visiting you LOL And yes, they see humans as part of their food chain, a nice tasty part. They're the only animals that see us as a nice buffet dinner Fortunately they rarely kill a human, but much like a grizzley, if they go after you, you don't have much of a chance of making it through those attacks!

We have a large number of black bears in NJ. The key is to make your home as bear-proof as possible. Meaning --- No bird feeders, secure garbage indoors (garage or shed), do not leave food out for pets. Your state's fish and game department should have some resouces available on bear safety.

I hate bears! After moving to Colorado, I don't even like teddy bears much! They're messy, they can be mean and they are all over the freakin place.

So Doodlebanker are you saying that we should not get you a Build-A-Bear gift certificate for Christmas?

-Builder Chick

If it were me, I'd keep a camera handy in case a Sasquatch decides to show up!

I'm just curious Doodlebanker, why do you live in Colorado? I get the impression from several of your posts that you just hate it there. Not being mean or sarcastic or anything, I just wondered.

i live in northern calif and have bears in my yard all the time, we live in a national forest and that is a bears backyard, so you would have to expect to see a bear once in a while, go live in the city if you dont want wild animals in your yard. just my 2 cents

I hung my treestand last weekend in preparation for archery season. After doing so, I went on some hiking in the area behind my stand and found additional deer-sign..but also, about 5 large piles of Pennsylvania Black Bear drops. Should be fun.

You're right. I don't like it. Honestly, I moved to Colorado to get out of a bad situation in California and ended up in a place that I can't afford to leave. And as far as the build a bear- only if I can make a victim of a slasher movie bear.

Hey, Thomas.
NW PA.
Warren County.
And thanks for the well wishes.

Hey Sarah, I know what you mean. I was born and raised in Chicago, where the only wildlife were squirrels and robins. I moved to Northeast Wisconsin 25 years ago. In our back yard we have seen chipmunks, squirrels, garter snakes, raccoons, opposums, skunk, woodchucks, badgers, deer, turkey, pheasent, grouse, sand hill cranes, canadian geese, duck and a rouge neighbor cat. Every time we see something, I am still in awe.

Especially in the spring. This year, we had two families of canadian geese and one family of sandhill cranes in the back yard all at once! Over twenty birds. We crept slowly to the windows so as not to spook them.