WTF - Bears prepping for Hibernation

"And then I saw the bear," - Jimmy Buffet

The bears on Beech Mountain are now in full swing getting in those last calories so they can go to sleep looking like Jabba The Hutt from Star Wars emerging next spring looking like Thor.

This means activity increases and you have to be Bearwise during the last month of summer into fall.

This amazing magnet is sitting on the counter at Fred's General Mercantile and it's free. Pick one up to remind yourself of these facts about bears:

Never feed or approach bears. I know, DUH! But people like to feed the animals and this attracts bears.

Do not approach a bear! Not even for a selfie! If you see a bear while out and about on the mountain you can do one of two things, turn and go the other way, or make as much noise as possible while making yourself look as big as possible. (wave your arms, open your jacket anything to make yourself look intimidating.) My husband told me to just give the bear my "mom eye" and he'll run the other way. Most of the time they are afraid of you and will run away. I always say there's plenty of food on the mountain so I don't think they'll think of us as FOOD!

Secure your home. Once they start in full eat mode prepping for hibernation, they get more creative looking for food. If you have bears regularly in your backyard as I do, I move to keeping the back doors closed taking away the temptation to come into my kitchen and help themselves to my pizza. (Seriously, this actually happened to friends, they came into their kitchen and found a bear standing over their pizza)

Secure your garbage or recycling. Trash cans on this mountain are not bear proof, meaning whatever you put out will be strewn up and down the street and into our beautiful woods. The wooden lids will deter raccoons and crows from going through your trash but they will not keep a 500lb bear away. Put your garbage out the morning of pickup. (Pickup schedules can be found at Beech Mountain Town Hall) or use the Beech Mountain Convenience center across from Fred's General Mercantile, take your trash to the dump then go over to Fred's for the morning paper and a great cup of coffee.

Remove bird feeders at night. Everyone loves feeding the birds and squirrels but during this active time this is a buffet for bears. Bears will come on your deck for bird feeders, pet food you leave out, humming bird feeders, anything edible. Don't make your deck the place they remember as a food source.

Clean your grill. If you've grilled, run it at a high temperature to burn off all food bits and run a brush over the grill cleaning off the debris. This keeps the bear from tearing your grill apart looking for food.

Secure your vehicle. Make sure there is no food in your car and all windows are up. I learned this lesson luckily with a raccoon. I thought I had all windows up but one was partially down. I went to my car to get something and a raccoon was sitting in the front seat holding a taco my son left in my car. With much noise later he disappeared into the woods with it. Luckily this wasn't a bear because a bear would have totaled my car. This happened on Sugar Mountain, a bear got into a car after a doughnut and the door shut behind him. Needless to say the car was totaled from the bear trying to get out. I wouldn't want to be the police coming and opening the door to the car letting the bear out. Our bears are creative enough to open some car doors, lock your vehicle even in our neighborhood where we don't lock cars.

Being Bearwise means being logical. This is the time of year they are packing on the weight and are not afraid of finding new food sources. Don't let your deck, car or house be their next buffet.

What are your bear proof ideas?

WTF - The Skunk Update

My little dog, Shawnee has a Napoleonita complex (she's a girl and Napoleon is a boy) meaning, she will chase anything.

She chased a bear rustling through out neighbor's garbage, all of us running after her screaming, "Come back!  Don't get eaten!!"

She chased deer, chased raccoons and squirrels away from my feeders, even ALMOST caught a Possum! (Boy do those animals hiss)

It's the skunks that get me though, because they will let her chase them so far before they've had enough.

First skunk episode:  My boys were fighting in the car on the way home from biking, I got pissed off and dropped them a half mile from the house saying, "Ya'll are walking, I'm going back to the mountain. Oh, and take the dog with you, she'll listen to your complaining."

Of course they look at me surprised, "You're not taking us all the way home? It's cold outside."

"Just go through the woods there, I can see the house from here," I say pulling away enjoying the quiet of my car.

Not even five minutes later, my phone rings.

"Hello?"
"Oh God! Mom! Shawnee bit a skunk and got sprayed! Oh God, she's running over to us, Oh God! Shawnee get away! Mom! Help us! Shawnee go away! Oh god, my eyes are burning!"

I finally get home and they've tossed the poor dog in the garage. I swear there was a black cloud over the residence as I pull into the driveway.

Out came the Dawn, the Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda.  (Side note: 1/2 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/8 cup of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon blue Dawn dishwashing soap, some say you don't need the baking soda but with that smell I'm not taking chances.)

Second time:

6am, getting children ready for school. Kitchen window open, music playing, nice breeze coming through, dog out doing her business.

I pause. Shit.

I smell skunk.

The dog runs through the back door, past me, spreading her black cloud through the house until I catch her and toss her into the garage. We can't be late for school. 

Take kids to school and on my way back I get a call from the teenager, "Mom! I smell like skunk! Everyone is saying something in school!  Come get me!"  Poor 14 year old showing up as a freshman at high school smelling like skunk.

"But we live in the country, I'm sure you're not the first," I say thinking, man now I have to drive all the way back to Boone.

"Mom!"

The younger son never called, he told me later he just announced, "My dog got sprayed by a skunk" as he walked into his classroom. Good Boy.

Later, eyes burning, nose stinging I'm back with the Dawn, Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda.

Third Time:

5am, putting lunches together, light breeze coming through the windows.

Shit.  I smell skunk.  This time I am smart, I open the garage door, throw her in there, take the kids to school then come back and pull out the Dawn, Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda.

Third time's the charm, right?

Wrong.

Last night, sitting enjoying a movie with the family, sipping a glass of wine.

I stop.

Shit. Is that skunk I smell?

Shawnee comes running through the open door, the hubby and kids screaming, "Get her! Get her!"

Why is this my job?

Back to the tub, even though she hates the bath, she looks at me, sighs, climbing in the tub of her own volition.

I got tired of mixing together my own concoction. This time I bought the dog store stuff. It works like a charm.

So if you want to buy stock in something, think Nature's Remedy Skunk Odor Remover. For 11.95 a bottle, it's worth the money.

This is a safe investment as I have a little dog that loves chasing skunks.  Wonder what would happen if she caught one? No, I'm not going there.

Have you had any fun dancing with skunks lately?