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I guess its that time of year again...

VERAULT

VERAULT

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
8,470
Location
Connecticut, USA
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Taken 3pm today. I didnt know he was there until my German Shepherd started going nuts. Large untagged male black bear. He is trying to break into a Suet bird feeder (with fresh suet I put out this morning). Broke the dowel arm right off my front lantern which had the suet feeder mounted to it... Guess this means ill be cleaning up all the neighbors garbage that the bears prefer to tear apart on my property... I get it.. its quiet and peaceful here.. The only riff raff we get are these guys. YAY
 
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The ride never stopped for me.
The bears don't come through as much anymore now that we've removed the pear and plum trees but the deer have ruined all of our cedars.

Knew I should of sprayed the bushes with Strychnine...
 
Funny you should say that. Another Black bear broke my 6 year old peach tree in half. I came home to find it laying sideways.. but it had just enough bark left attached that I stood it up and lashed it to a few support stakes and it lived. ITs going to be another 5 years before it can stand up on its own though. Really, really strong animals. He seemed to walk away with nothing in his mouth. I dont think he got into my squirrel proof feeder. I am going to go out to the tree he was near and try and retrieve it. He walked down the mountain about 15 minutes ago. Just wanted to give my dog some time to calm down.

Fruit trees... yeah., If its not a late frost, its birds, squirrels, and chipmunks eating all my cheries, peaches, and nectarines.. Im lucky to get anything for myself. I am goint to try netting this year.

We dont have many cedars left. Maybe 5 or 6 in the yard and some more scattered in the woods. The deer dont bother them too much.. we have had a mild winter but either a blight or bug is killing all the cedar off the mountain here.
 
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We had to give up with a cherry tree in 1999 because it was just too much maintenance to keep it from growing a fungus.
I don't know what it's been with the deer eating cedars. These ones have been in the ground since 1973 and up until about 2015 they left them alone. Then after that they started cleaning the bottom six or seven feet off every tree in the neighborhood that was not protected. Everyone used them as windbreaks and privacy screens so you can imagine how unhappy everyone is.
 
NeXT said:
We had to give up with a cherry tree in 1999 because it was just too much maintenance to keep it from growing a fungus.
I don't know what it's been with the deer eating cedars. These ones have been in the ground since 1973 and up until about 2015 they left them alone. Then after that they started cleaning the bottom six or seven feet off every tree in the neighborhood that was not protected. Everyone used them as windbreaks and privacy screens so you can imagine how unhappy everyone is.
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We buy Liquid fence by the gallon to spray our flowering plants, bushes, and trees so the deer dont eat them. I suppose it will work on your cedars. I spray my grape vines and fruit trees as well with this stuff: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liquid-...eer-and-Rabbit-Repellent-HG-70109-4/205844053

Keeps the deer away if we spray regularly. I cant garden because of chipmunks and moles. They destroy anything I try to plant. I even have a fenced off garden so the deer cant get in.. but the vermin are far worse. I think Ill take the fencing down and convert it back to lawn... I garden out of large pots up on my deck now.
 
I live on the south edge of the Manistee national forest in the grand scheme of things; we occasionally get a bear wondering through town. Thankfully none in my yard... yet, or that I've seen heh.
 
skate323k137 said:
I live on the south edge of the Manistee national forest in the grand scheme of things; we occasionally get a bear wondering through town. Thankfully none in my yard... yet, or that I've seen heh.
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Thats the think about wildlife.. they are so silent. Hell we found a beaver up here on the mountain near the tiniest creek.. Who knew? I can be in my driveway, walk behind the house and there are turkeys, deer, or foxes and you wouldnt even know.
 
VERAULT said:
Thats the think about wildlife.. they are so silent. Hell we found a beaver up here on the mountain near the tiniest creek.. Who knew? I can be in my driveway, walk behind the house and there are turkeys, deer, or foxes and you wouldnt even know.
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Not all the time lol. Ever heard a fox scream at night? Sounds like a woman being murdered.
 
yeah.. but were more likely to hear a pack of coyotes.

Speaking of foxes.. a few years ago there was one female in our yard while our dog was up on the deck.. and this fox didnt run away.. she just laid out.in the sun in plain sight of my dog cleaning herself and just laying out.. she must have been taunting my dog. she was out there a long while before moving on. I like the foxes because I dont own chickens (yet). Most of the time I see them they have a mouse or chipmunk in thier mouth so were on the same side...
 
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Some years ago they introduced the beaver and the wolf again in the Netherlands. A friend of mine, living near Maastricht near the river Maas, had some nice trees. Some of them have gone and he is not happy. A natural enemy of the beaver is the wolf AFAIK. But those are living more north, above the Maas and Rhine. An idea of mine asking to introduce the wolf in the south as well was received with a lot of skepticism. I wonder why....... (FYI, mainly by people having sheep)
 
Oh, it must be glorious to have that much space !

Would love it, but not sure my wife would be too enthusiastic about black bears, but hey what a photo op.

Most I have had is a red deer walking down the road.
 
Well a hungry male bear can be scary but unless they are starving they are more scared of you... the most terrifying thing to run into would be a bear cub... you dont want to walk into a bear cub for very obvious reasons... my wife stumbled upon two cubs at the foot of our long driveway. Thankfully she had her car.
 
I had hoped the bears would have continued napping until the overnight temperature stayed above freezing. It is so much easier putting the trash out the night before instead of traversing an ice covered driveway to meet the 6 AM pickup deadline.
 
krebizfan said:
I had hoped the bears would have continued napping until the overnight temperature stayed above freezing. It is so much easier putting the trash out the night before instead of traversing an ice covered driveway to meet the 6 AM pickup deadline.
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Well we are in the same boat but thankfully the pickup time is 9:30am. If we put it out the night before the bears almost always make a mess. Problem is my neighbors are lazy and put it out any time they feel like. And again, the bears prefer my woods to tear into my neighbors trash.. And its always my Wife or I doing the cleanup. Nothing ruins your day faster than having to clean up someone elses trash.
 
We regularly have a bear parade through our property. Drives the dogs nuts, but the bears pay no attention. Don't see as many porcupines and skunks as formerly, however.
 
Chuck(G) said:
We regularly have a bear parade through our property. Drives the dogs nuts, but the bears pay no attention. Don't see as many porcupines and skunks as formerly, however.
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Didn't know you had porcupines in the pacific northwest. I know the upper peninsula of Michigan has them. I have only seen them around Maine myself. Cute little buggers. We have more ground squirrels and muskrats (if water is nearby) with opossums.. There are raccoons but they stay clear of my property (must smell the dog). And bats.. Lots of bats which is fun to watch at dusk... I installed a bat house on one of our cedars. Dont think they moved in yet... they live under the trim of my roofline.. About the size of a large mouse.

Lots of wild turkey, Vultures, and red tailed hawks. The occasional Bald Eagle will fly overhead. We have lots of wood peckers.. 3 sizes/species from small to largest which is bigger than a hawk.

The biggest nuisance in the past couple years is either moles or voles.. My back yard is destroyed. I need to hire someone this spring.
 
VERAULT said:
Didn't know you had porcupines in the pacific northwest. I know the upper peninsula of Michigan has them. I have only seen them around Maine myself. Cute little buggers.
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They're pests here--they'll climb a conifer and girdle the bark off the top part, ruining the tree. I can tell you about how pulling quills out of dog's mouth and nose is a 2-person job--one with a hose to run water over the dog's nose and hold the dog, the other with a pair of pliers to pull quills.

[Lots of wild turkey, Vultures, and red tailed hawks. The occasional Bald Eagle will fly overhead. We have lots of wood peckers.. 3 sizes/species from small to largest which is bigger than a hawk.
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Yup. The turkeys crap all over the driveway and dig up the garden. Vultures can strip a deer carcass in a day. Our biggest woodpecker is the Pileated, which has a maniacal call.

The biggest nuisance in the past couple years is either moles or voles.. My back yard is destroyed. I need to hire someone this spring.
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A few years ago, we had an explosion in the vole population--right after we planted several thousand seedlings. Wrapping the bottom 6 inches of each with aluminum foil helped, but what really made a dent was our dogs. I had a female retriever at the time who had a fetish about the things--she'd dig up the burrows and clean them out. Squeak! crunch, crunch...sometimes 10 in a single outing.
The moles are around; I don't mind them too much, as we have heavy clay soil here and any aeration is good in the long run. If the population gets out of control, inevitably a snake moves in to handle things.
 
I was trying to find out where i can buy a dozen rat snakes.. i mean they are large scary black snakes but relatively harmless.. im sure it will scare the heck out of my wife....

Turkeys only tend to bother me if i plant new grass seed or when there is a pack of baby turkeys scratching away all the grass(what little i have left).

I guess we have the same Pileated wood pecket here too. Yes they have a very strange call.. and they never ever feed on any of our feeders.. only the small and med peckers do.
 
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