When I got to the oasis yesterday morning the feeder was dangling and the cone was off to the side. The bear had pulled the feeder down on the night of the 22nd, so it stayed like I found it for four days. Note cone sitting in the background on left side of feeder. I assumed the bear had moved on.
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So I took down the broken crossbar, bucket, and lid, putting them behind the viewing blind with the cone, intending to bring it all to town. But I was sick yesterday and standing on top of a ladder, barely reaching the top of the pole to pull up the bar, with vertigo, made a nap priority.
This morning I went down to the oasis from my cabin and found the cone flattened and the bucket severely bent. Why? Anger?
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I was feeling hopeless for a while, likely exacerbated by my state of unwellness. Then I decided I had to feed birds and would get a bear-proof feeder, whatever it took. Couldn't find any online, so designed one that I know will work. Lee will build it. So I'm excited!
Back in 2015 I had what I thought was a bear-proof feeder near the ground. I had chained a 55 gallon drum to two T-posts.
Child's play for the bear. He flattened the T-posts. So I went for a pole, always making it stronger after each bear raid. Time to get something a bear cannot get into, and near the ground where birds and birders like it. And convenient to fill. Necessity is the mother of invention.
I'm feeling a little better. Made it through watering today with a nap or two in the process. I think I'll be better in the morning.
Hope you get well soon Carolyn! Be careful, lotta nasty bugs out there right now.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if Lee needs a hand, and I'll see if I can get the day off. And hope you are on the mend! Matt
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer.
DeleteHi Carolyn...sending good thoughts your way, hope you get to feeling better soon. Just made a donation to CMO...thank you for the opportunity to participate in the development of the world's best bear-proof feeder! We appreciate you, and what you do! Tom McC
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generous donation. We'll see how the feeder progresses. There will be issues to work out, such as keeping the feed dry, but it's doable.
ReplyDeleteEither you're fighting mother nature, or preserving mother nature. I can''t decide which. But boy do you have some moxie.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don't know either. But feeding the birds and having them there for visitors to enjoy is enhancing human experience of the natural world. Gonna have a bear proof feeder soon. Right now I think we all have covid.
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