Last night around midnight we awoke to the worst noise of the night ever at the cottage.There was crashing of our garbage bins, which needless to say awoke us from a sound night's sleep.
We jumped out of bed....well as much as two people who hobble can, to see what the devil was out there!
In the ten years we have been here, never and I mean never have the coons been able to open the garbage bins which are a Rubbermaid that I no longer can find.
The bins have a lock top and no raccoon has ever been able to figure out how to open them.
Well, last night three were destroyed along
with smashed tops and dragged about 200 ft
up the hill behind the cottage.
We didn't see a critter at all, we only saw one bin moved and broken at this time. Then I suppose an hour or so later as we had brought in one bin which only had some paper in it, and thought that was it, we were awaken once more.
Again this banging of bins, which was the bin with the tins and glass which makes an awful noise anyway, out we go to see that now only the bin with the glass and tin is left!
How could a raccoon carry three bins with garbage up over the septic bed and up a hill I ask you? I think it was a bear which would be in transit as we
don't have enough food to sustain bears on the island except of course garbage now and then. So the bears would move island to island then to land for the winter season in any event.
Now, as you know I still have my little hummers around, so for the first time ever, there was a destroyed feeder hanging about 10 ft off the steps usually which was broken and a tooth or claw mark on the feeder part!
In the middle of the night, the second time around the dog got out and headed up the hill. Of course being a Westie he doesn't come when called and we shouted loud enough to wake the dead! " You little......get back here!" Finally, we got the leash out and started up the hill with a flashlight, the leash, following all the garbage and finally the stupid dog sees the leash and thinks he's going for a walk so he comes running to the leash! Holy s...., we started laughing at the two of us, in slippers jackets, flashlights, and a dog with a wagging tail....
Today, my sweetie is building a bomb proof shelter for the garbage. Whether it was a bear or raccoon, we will be secure from any more invasions. I'll take a photo when it's done, but not today, it's a secret project.
NB> the photos are web shots, not the actual invadors!
15 comments :
yikes a bear!! we had one at our house last summer and it was enough to make us nervous for a while
We never figured out for sure what got our garbage bins one night years ago. Hubby had built a little platform with a railing all the way around it to keep it from critters and one morning we go out and both of the garbage bins had been lifted out of the area and tossed on their sides and garbage strewn all over the place - we do have black bear in the area but have never seen them - I think that was it, never happened again.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
Yep, sounds like a bear to me. I don't think racoons carry the garbage cans around--just dig all through them. Be careful--I'm going to take in my hummingbird feeders this weekend--I think they've departed anyway--and will wait to fill the other feeders until I'm sure the bears are sound asleep.
bears did that to our garbage where we used to live...had to put the can in the garage...
And people say Australia has a load of dangerous creatures. You'd never catch a kangaroo or snake rifling through your rubbish bin!
Good luck on the bear proof garbage shelter.
Scary stuff. When we lived in N. California we had a bear come right near our yard to get to the apple orchard in the next driveway. We lived out in the country and didn't have real close neighbors. I was sitting in my studio and heard a snuffling sound - and then I smelled it - oh my - once you smell a bear you won't forget that smell. He broke the fence into the orchard and damaged several trees. We were careful about leaving anything out that the bear might want to eat - and he never did bother our garbage cans - guess the apple trees were easier.
Darn those bears!! At least they just trashed the trash and not the back door!!
-A family bear story- My brothers, sisters and all their families went camping. We couldn't get a big enough spot at the camp grounds so camped on the other side of the road....on a bear trail. In the morning every single Coleman cooler that had one of those twirling locks was opened and raided. All of the Igloo coolers with lids that just lift off were untouched. The bear couldn't find the latch to open them LOL.
Crispy
I was gonna say, "That thar's a bear!" but since they're only webshots, I guess you know that. lol
Oddly enough, I had a dream last night of fighting off bears. Bears is SCARY! I hope you have raccoons, but it sure sounds like a bear instead.
Happy camping,
Susan in (mostly bear-free) Texas
Love that dog!!!! LOL
I would have wet my pants if that dog came back shaking with a bear following him.....you two were brave to go out there.
Let us know what it is.....
We had squirrels eat through our rubbermaid cans....
Aliens, definitely aliens! :)
Your life at the cottage is more exciting than my life in the city :)
Cheers,
Christine
Wow! Such excitement! So funny that the dog came back to go for a walk:)
Wow, Thank goodness your dog came back down to the leash. I can't believe you were out at night with flashlights. Brave! Wow, thank goodness all are ok!
I'm so pleased your little dog came back to you before he found that bear!
We don't have bears here and when Christopher was in Whistler he saw several of them. He was working in a restaurant at night and quite often saw a mother and her cub getting into the bear proof bins for food scraps. He was told they go crazy for food just before hibernation. He got some great photos of them though and said the first time he saw one he got the fright of his life!
I always worry about my dog running out in the night/evening when I try to figure out what is going on in the back. We have chickens and they attract everything!
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