last night i lost the rest of the bushes around the front porch along with the trash can being ripped and the trash everywhere for the 2nd day in a row. The first night the bear (there are 2 causing issues) also went to town on the basil and my blackberry bush. He also took a shit right in front of my door.

Now you would think with 4 dogs and the windows being opened would get at least one of them barking but no, which is crazy because the boys bark obsessively.

I think the fires have something to do with the wildlife, im far enough down we usually dont see bears, or moose and this week multiple bears and moose wandered into the area. We even had a wolf report this week but that turned out to be a group of escaped huskies.

I still dont know what to do about the trash. I dont have a shed or a garage or even a real gate on the fence. And im not the only one having bear issues.

Call your local game warden, or if you're near a state / federal park call the rangers. Both want to know where the miscreants are and can remove them ...

We occasionally have bears and cats come out of the hills - and with less people around they're doing that more and more - our rangers are glad to come out, trap the big pest and get him back into the wild.

Cpw wont do anything because technically the neighborhood is within the rgnf. If they break into my house then they will come out and trap them but not unless they put people in danger.

So southfork had a fire tbat as the bird flys was only 5 miles away and the pass was on fire last week in 4 places. The blizzard on its way should help with the fires but everyone is being told locally that wildlife is on the move. Someone down the ditch put up a trail cam its caught 2 different bears a mama mountain lion with cubs several Canadian lynx and bobcats.

I do worry bears are going to be the new norm

One of our local respondents - on FaceBook - suggested a load of buckshot in the bears rump ... now, I may not know a whole lot about bears, but it seems like there's a better chance that you're going to irritate the bear than do anything about getting it to move on ... and I'd rather not have a bear irritated at me, nope, not really!

Yeah that might work if it was legal. The legal way to shoot a bear is load a shotgun with rock salt. Actually the noise is the more important part. In the past ive used firecrackers but once again run into legal issues.

I thought maybe if i rigged some bear spray to a pressure plate but my luck i would trip it.

They should hibernate soon and then i have some time to figure it out

This should do it. https://www.premier1supplies.com/garden_wildlife/fencing.php?fence_id=128

With a 2 Joule fencer charger (I use a patriot 2P.) Place it either just around your cans or the garden area and bait it with Peanut butter. You can keep the fence off during the day when dogs out, turn back on at dusk for the night.  I tried to keep my guys from touching the line but, no, they be idiots. Z'ev even backed up to the fence to poop

Surprised the dogs didn't make a fuss. Ami never barks but he sure did both times a bear tried to partake of bee treats. Saved my bacon, he did. We have black bears, DEC says even a barking chihuahua will keep a black bear away. Don't know about brown bears. Probably not a grizzly either

We have black bears gotta go north to Wyoming to find grizzlies. If you believe the local lore (and 2 sightings last summer) we also have bigfoots, but im sure thats not what got into the trash.

The 2 boys and squirt grew up on a military base so they dont get up until 7am and when the tv gets shut off or 10pm they know its "quiet" hours. Takes alot for them to get loud between 10pm and 7am. They also know to sit and shut up during the national anthem. Then spider is mostly quiet, especially when something is off. Typical wolf behavior, the be very quiet and run and hide.

If i see the bear during the day, im going to turn squirt loose on it. See what the bear thinks about that.

So one thing i keep coming across is the real answer to the bear problem is a beagle. I find that funny

Yep. A noisy dog. Both times it was insanely barking dogs that got my attention. And apparently, Yogi's attention, too. The first time, I lost one hive but most of the equipment was salvageable. Second time, just some fresh comb with nectar I had taken out of a hive and stored in the shed. Never got a chance to get up to the hives before Ami was chasing him. I never saw the bear but I did see Ami barking, darting and weaving. Of it had been a deer would have been a dead run. Any smaller animal and it would be silent and lethal.

Yep. A good ol' noisy beagle should do it. If you can stand all the noise

Id really like to get into bees, but you either have to let the hive die every year or send the hive to texas. And then there is risk to the native bee population when you introduce a different
non native species of bee.

Splinter can out bark most dogs, unfortunately my dogs have been trained to only bark at night if its really serious, like when the camper caught on fire. They dont view a bear in the trash out front as serious.

Beagles aren't worth the noise when an electric fence will do the job quietly and for less expense. I grew up with hunting dogs, my first dog was a beagle. While she was heavily trained and not too irritating, the second one we got was older and awful. My in-laws had 3 Beagles and a Beagle mix (now down to one pure and the mix) and it was nearly impossible to go to their house and have a conversation. They lived in bark collars. We moved away from Beagles and into pointers which was much nicer. I'm not sure what I dislike more, Beagles or any form of cattle dog. One is noisy and dumb and the other is noisy and bites. while they serve their purpose it's not a purpose I care to tolerate any longer.

Splinter falls into the dumb untrainable terrier that is terrified of everything but has a im going to get you before you get me attitude and he bites ankles and barks at anything that moves and some things that dont move.

Last September all 18 lbs of splinter chased my 21 yr old cousin through the house and up the stairs. It was hilarious.

I'm with Jenn with respect to Beagles. Only decent Beagle I know of is Snoopy, and maybe his cousin Spike...

I had a good beagle ironically named snoopy. She lived in the barn and chased the racoons away. She also didnt wander off so she was ok as an unfenced outside dog. One problem she did have was she would get so exited to see people that she would pee on them. When i had to rehome her she went to someone who hunts with beagles. He really really thought she was a good beagle. So way back in the day, beagles and bloodhounds could come out of the same litter. Bloodhounds were the big dogs and beagles were the small dogs. The springer/cocker spaniel bloodlines are also like that. That was when dogs were bred for a job instead of a look. The alaskan husky for example can really look like anything.

Sometimes i think splinter has beagle in him. When he does the zone out nose to the ground following sent trails.