Uninvited Guest (Or, The Black Bear Snack Bar)
So you remember how I installed that smart bird feeder camera a few days ago? Well, I filled it up with birdseed the next day and was delighted to see it capture videos of cute birds coming in for a snack.
But birds aren’t the only thing hungry around here it seems.
When I checked the camera feed the next morning, I was shocked to see this furry little massive face looking back:
That’s right, I happened to set up the camera just in time to catch a black bear rolling through our neighborhood, and boy was he excited to find our new snack bar. According to our camera, he stood at the “counter” munching on birdseed for an entire hour! From midnight to 1AM, he was stuffing his adorable face!
Apparently he was still hungry by morning because he was caught on camera again, this time pulling down our old bird feeders to see if he could snag anything more. At some point, he much have laid or pounced on the spherical feeder because it’s pretty smooshed now.1
I’ve got so many of these short clips saved. I love looking at his big ol’ snoot rummaging around for those tiny seeds. And him rolling his squat legs in the air, giving off Big Pooh Bear Energy I have half a mind to put up a sign that reads “Black Bear Snack Bar”.2
I’ve worked as a mountain guide here in the Adirondacks for over two years now, and I’ve yet to see a bear out in the wild. But here one was, right in my own backyard.
This is post #12/31 for Blaugust 2024.
By the way, I don’t think the new feeder attracted the bear. We’ve had birdseed out for a year now, and the holder has never been pulled over before. It’s just incredible happenstance that I got this thing up in time to catch him rolling through.↩︎
Except not really, because I don’t want to help him form a habit of eating from people’s bird feeders. It’s not good for the bears or the people. If he continues hoovering up our birdseed, I’ll have to figure something else out. But was tickled to see it this once. 😁↩︎