I'm new here, so first off, HI to all. Great site and seems to be a good group of people. (Background - I relocated to northwest Washington from Michigan's Upper Peninsula)
Funny bear encounter (in Michigan) - a bear had eaten my neighbor's bird feeder one morning, and that evening he was about 15' feet up in a maple tree about 10' from my house, eyeing up my bird feeders... I had an ongoing battle with the critters, finally put a very heavy door on a shed where I kept the bird food, and had to board up a small window also that was broke out to gain access - was tired of retrieving my garbage cans out in the woods... After getting some pictures (which I will post if I can find them after the move!), came up with the idea to "discourage" it by shooting it with my slingshot. I got close to it, and it started woofing and snapping it jaws... After the first shot to the head, he started swatting the air trying to figure what was going on, after the second volley, he came down out of the tree and headed north at a very fast pace! Never had any more major problems with him. He was just a young 100 lb. +/- bear probably dispersing. Past experience tells me if they are around an easy food source for any length of time, you might as well name him...
UPBert
