More bearing of the bears!

Got to the oasis last night to discover a bear had chewed on my new hoses, puncturing them at least 50 times. 

I took them indoors and put gorilla glue on all the punctures, then taped the spots. Didn't want to use them until I'm sure the glue has hardened, but I think it'll stop most of the leaks. We'll see. I'm not terribly concerned about the hoses because I can start keeping them in a bearproof place when not in use. The above photo is just a sample of one section. Bears like new plastic and rubber. Remember how the liner to the new water feature got chewed up?

What bothers me more is all the poop I came across that was full of bird seed. And the new bearproof feeder was totally empty. I don't know how much the birds ate over the last 4 or 5 days, and how much the bear managed to get out, but something will need to be done to make the ports more bearproof. It shouldn't have been empty.

I had thought, and talked, about the possibility that a bear could painstakingly get out the seed, but didn't see a reason to address it, if not necessary. I put up the other trail cam so next time, I can see what's going on.

The hanging feeder had been tilted a bit, but not pulled down. That's progress!

Meanwhile, more birds, and birders, are showing up. Funny how the two coincide.

The best bird of the day was a female Cassin's Finch. 

My loving sister found a great birdbath rock on top of our mountain and lugged it all the way down. It was better than the one I had at the bird drip, so I installed it there. First photo is the real shallow one that I had been using, and next photo is the new one (basins below where the water drips down over the lip of the top basin). Birds seem to favor it, but too soon to tell yet.

The overwintering Townsend's Solitaire and Hermit Thrush are still present too.

I swallowed my final Hep pills today. I'm sure I'm cured. Since I had no symptoms, I won't be able to tell any difference. But good to have that behind me. (They'll test me in July to be sure I'm cured.)