In Western Washington, due to the mild winters, then "tend" to take days
long naps rather than full hibernation.
Your bird feeder has become quite diverse!
Clarence
Onalaska, Wa.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marian Murdoch" <marianmurdoch at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:08 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Feeders and Bears


> My husband (Jim) and I came home and found HUGE bear
> tracks in the snow around our house last night. The
> bear had knocked down the shepherd's pole that held
> the bird feeders and opened up our garbage.
>
> Now, I know there are two camps about having bird
> feeders but let's put that aside for a moment...
>
> I THOUGHT BEARS HIBERNATED DURING THE WINTER!!!!!!
>
> According to the Washington wildlife site I visited,
> they said to only put up feeders from November to
> March. What's a bear doing raiding my feeders this
> late in the season?
>
> I took photos of the tracks:
>
> Shows the claw marks well:
> http://wildmaven.org/pb/track1.jpg
>
> Shows the pads of the foot well:
> http://wildmaven.org/pb/track2.jpg
>
> For comparison, Jim put his foot, size 10 1/2, next to
> one of the tracks:
> http://wildmaven.org/pb/track3.jpg
>
> Could the recent storm have destroyed his den? None of
> our neighbors feed bears, so I know he's not
> human-conditioned. We live right on a ravine with no
> homes behind us for miles.
>
> Marian Murdoch
> Belfair, WA (out by Twanoh State Park)
> marianmurdoch at yahoo.com
>
>
>
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