Bear Feet
There's a lot of wildlife where I am. I see deer every day, usually a half a dozen or more. I see wild turkey with frequency. There are fox, chipmunks, skunks, porcupines, and raccoons prowling around all the time. But for three months last year, and nearly a month this year everyone was seeing bears. Everyone but me that is.
Luke saw a bear crossing the road. There were bears in the parking lot of the actor's housing. They were sitting in fields on the side of the road. They were strolling through the parking lots of local restaurants, but I kept missing them.
Yesterday I returned from a morning of prowling the local flea market for props and was greeted by the company manager telling us that there had been a bear on the back porch of the Tavern, and that we should be careful. Of course that really meant that we all went running towards the Tavern to get a look. Seems that he had come up onto the porch, where there are several refrigerators and had started helping himself to the lettuce and the grapes stored within. he had stumbled off into the woods afterwards, and everyone said he looked a little wobbly. They had already called the Department of Environmental Conservation, the local agency that takes care of bears and other injured wildlife, who were on their way to check it out. We caught a few glimpses of him in the woods, he was a small fellow, about 200 lbs. probably. But he was a bear, and I had finally gotten to see a wild bear in his natural setting. It was great!
After we had lost sight of him for 10 minutes or so we decided to return to work. As we were walking across the lot to the shop we realized there was a bear in the dumpster, about 200 yards from where we had seen him last. How had he gotten there? We quickly realized that this wasn't the same bear though. The new visitor was much bigger, about 400 lbs. we guessed.
This bear sat in the dumpster for nearly an hour while we calmly snapped pictures, and even ate lunch on the deck of the tavern close by, while we waited for the DEC officer. He seemed utterly unconcerned that we were there.
The DEC officer came and peppered the bear with rubber buckshot to scare him off. But that only lasted a few hours. As soon as the sun started setting he came back and returned to his seat in the dumpster. The problem being that about that time is also when the patrons start arriving for the evening show. DEC returned and hustled him out again, and recommended that we splash bleach around the dumpsters as a deterrent. That didn't seem to help either as he returned twice during the show. He also returned to the refrigerators early this morning and had himself a healthy snack.
The producer is very concerned, not only for the safety of his food numbers but for the safety of the patrons and the staff. We frequently have to go by the Tavern refrigerators, and to the dumpsters after dark in the course of our daily routines. Since neither the buckshot, nor the bleach seemed to work though, I'm not sure what else he is going to try.
The good news though is that have now seen at least two different bears, and the outlook seems promising for seeing a few more before the summer, (and possibly the week) is out. Now if I can get a glimpse of one of the local bald eagles I think my wildlife adventures will be complete.
Luke saw a bear crossing the road. There were bears in the parking lot of the actor's housing. They were sitting in fields on the side of the road. They were strolling through the parking lots of local restaurants, but I kept missing them.
Yesterday I returned from a morning of prowling the local flea market for props and was greeted by the company manager telling us that there had been a bear on the back porch of the Tavern, and that we should be careful. Of course that really meant that we all went running towards the Tavern to get a look. Seems that he had come up onto the porch, where there are several refrigerators and had started helping himself to the lettuce and the grapes stored within. he had stumbled off into the woods afterwards, and everyone said he looked a little wobbly. They had already called the Department of Environmental Conservation, the local agency that takes care of bears and other injured wildlife, who were on their way to check it out. We caught a few glimpses of him in the woods, he was a small fellow, about 200 lbs. probably. But he was a bear, and I had finally gotten to see a wild bear in his natural setting. It was great!
After we had lost sight of him for 10 minutes or so we decided to return to work. As we were walking across the lot to the shop we realized there was a bear in the dumpster, about 200 yards from where we had seen him last. How had he gotten there? We quickly realized that this wasn't the same bear though. The new visitor was much bigger, about 400 lbs. we guessed.
This bear sat in the dumpster for nearly an hour while we calmly snapped pictures, and even ate lunch on the deck of the tavern close by, while we waited for the DEC officer. He seemed utterly unconcerned that we were there. 
The DEC officer came and peppered the bear with rubber buckshot to scare him off. But that only lasted a few hours. As soon as the sun started setting he came back and returned to his seat in the dumpster. The problem being that about that time is also when the patrons start arriving for the evening show. DEC returned and hustled him out again, and recommended that we splash bleach around the dumpsters as a deterrent. That didn't seem to help either as he returned twice during the show. He also returned to the refrigerators early this morning and had himself a healthy snack. The producer is very concerned, not only for the safety of his food numbers but for the safety of the patrons and the staff. We frequently have to go by the Tavern refrigerators, and to the dumpsters after dark in the course of our daily routines. Since neither the buckshot, nor the bleach seemed to work though, I'm not sure what else he is going to try.
The good news though is that have now seen at least two different bears, and the outlook seems promising for seeing a few more before the summer, (and possibly the week) is out. Now if I can get a glimpse of one of the local bald eagles I think my wildlife adventures will be complete.
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