BYC Café

[prostar]

Better to be angry and cooped up than hailed on!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hail can damage you for life - even the small ones really hurt.

 

[prostar]

Oh yeah. We'd get crazy hail in southern Alberta. From soft and small to big honkin golf ball stuff.

 

[3goodeggs]

Once in central Florida there were grapefruit sized hail stones. The car lots were trashed, people on the road driving were having their windshields smashed repeatedly as they were driving. I imagine it was terrifying.
For a while, you would see people driving around in brand new cars that had huge dents in them, because if you did not mind what it looked like, it was still a new dependable car at a great price.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Tornado watch today. Pretty unusual for the mountains. No bears last night, well, none that I noticed or heard anyway. I thinned down the Aspen saplings so that we can see better up the hill from us. I am going to process some of the meaties tomorrow, most of the roos. DS2's girlfriend would like to learn how to process chickens, so it will be a girls' day out.

Wed. I am going down to look at some CVM sheep. I don't have enough things to do you see......and we already have the nasty fence and DH is finally on-board with a bit of homesteading. It has only taken me six years to convince him. I am going for more coffee....

 

[scottcaddy]

My Dear Margie, I do think that you and I have a big differance in just whats 'enough' to do!
I do wish you all the LUCK that I can with the 'enough' to do!
Scott

 

[3goodeggs]

My husband doesn't BYC, but I talk about you all like ... friends, Because you are,... anyway- each morning over coffee he asks me about different members and how are they doing... but he ALWAYS asks about the lady with the bear in her kitchen.
I have been keeping him apprised of the bear encounters and this morning told him that 'She wants sheep.' He said,"You mean bear popcorn? Mmmm tasty morsels."
I say, good luck they are lots of fun, and keep that fence charged. Everything eats lamb.

you'll need to grow some mint somewhere.

 

[N F C]

"Bear popcorn"?!?!? Yikes, what an image (but one I had to laugh at because I have a weird sense of humor).

I talk about all my BYC buddies to DH too. You all should have ringing ears from your names being mentioned so often, lol!

 

[Mtn Margie]

LOL! I already have mint and it grows wild down in the pastures. Yeah, the fence is a must and we want to increase the coverage to keep the predators farther away from the house and garden. They would have to be brought into a secure barn every night, within the fence to keep them safer for sure, but this year, I could sure use the weed and grass control and my neighbors keep asking me to graze horses at their places, but that is problematic in different ways. I am still pondering the logistics and the El Nino effect that could happen.
No bears last night. They must be off to another part of their circle of destruction. The dead horse brought some benefit to me however. That piece of equipment? Well my neighbor got bored and used it to flatten out the ditches in my driveway and remove a huge tree stump at the top that he always hit when he snowplowed and now I am set, er, he is set for Winter. Snow in the High Country tonight. Those bears are going to put it in overdrive.....

 

[Mtn Margie]

Coffee reading material. Here are the local bulletin posts from around the area, minus mine of which you know the gist. This is what people are saying.....

8/15/15
Large bear just showed up on north side of town up above fire station, walked right up onto our deck before we chased him/her out. Last seen cresting the hill behind our house heading towards 15th St. Hide yr kids, hide yr wife.

A bear, a very LARGE bear, just tried to break in one of my windows. Got his arm inside and I heard things breaking. Chased him off with my voice and tried to get him moving a little quicker with an air horn, but all he/she did was lumber slowly away. And no I didn't get a photo. Too busy looking for an air horn.

Bear encounter west of town on Overland at around 2:30 pm. A large black bear brazenly clawed out our screen door while we were all inside. Ran downstairs because I thought we had a visitor. Dog barking scared it off but it wasn't in a rush to leave.
We had no food out, no compost, no bird feeders but I did have some camping supplies out to pack the camper and it contained a beeswax candle which the bear attempted to eat.

@@@@@, came here next at 2:45. Pulled open the windows and clawed out the screen over the kitchen sink. The upstairs is empty of food since it's for guests, except for a little sugar and such.

It's time for The Posse, folks! It seems everyone is doing all they can to deter the bears, but they are becoming more bold (and potentially dangerous). Can JVFD please contact the DOW to get some rubber buckshot like they did a few years ago? I fear the death of many bears SOON if they aren't deterred in a more serious way beyond unwelcome mats, air horns, and eliminating trash incentives!!! SOB!!!

Bears can also be deterred by TALK RADIO or LOUD MUSIC!!! Put your boombox or stereo speakers in the window facing outward and BLAST IT! I bet heavy metal will do just fine! If you can get to your car, use your car horn if your air horn no longer works. You can hang ziploc baggies filled with ammonia outside your windows and have bear mats made of nails at the base of the window. Whatever you do, please be safe!

On a funny note, I had a small 6"x4" chalkboard sign on the kitchen sill that said "add 1/4 cup vinegar to the dishwasher" which was licked clean by the bear. Apparently he didn't agree with those instructions.

Bears-
We have for years had a bug light in our backyard. You know- the kind with a black light/florescent bulb that attracts bugs to it and then it zzz zzz zzaps em dead. In the ten years I have run the light at night, we have not had a single bear incident at our home. Simple. Cost effective. Probably costs a couple bucks a month to run it during the warm season....... and you have less bugs!

Rob, sounds like a good deterrent for nighttime bears. This was a full on 2:45 in the lazy afternoon daytime bear though.

@@@@ down in Springdale here! Yesterday, we forgot to let a guest know to close up the windows before he left (we'd left earlier in the day).
We came home early afternoon to a busted out screen and a giant mess in the kitchen. Oof.
This bear knew what it was doing. Opened the pantry and snack cabinet, fridge and freezer. Left everything else alone.
We had no trash inside, our one bag was out on the curb waiting for pick up and was untouched.

Re: BIG BEARâ€

S BUTT. I have a few rounds of 12ga., non-lethal, rubber buckshot to go around if anybody needs them ... lemme know

We have no problems here with bears...we do have noisy children, an irate teenager, and some wolfy dogs. I think they are afraID OF US. Come and get some dog poo, hair, or whatever you need to dter these visios beasts from attacking.we are not unlisted, so do call , if you would need anything to scare bears. They really dislike screaming women and children, and wolfy dogs.

8/17/15
When you call DOW or email..Wallace - DNR, Teresa ([email protected])
You will be sent 7 PDF information packets about bears. Almost all is common sense only.
I tried to tell them about what was really going on up here. They never really listened to me.
They kept tell me I have food or I am doing something stupid. This year is different.
Everyone tells us DOW has already been up here. Great
Wait until the vegetation dies. Again, we have been fighting bears for 3 months now.
We have even been contemplating selling. Good luck all.

9news says the bear problems in the Front Range are due to the weather damaging their food supply (berries).
http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015...incidents/31892279/
So by next year, the problem may be resolved.

Thanks for looking after Deb's car. That will teach me to take my bear repellent on vacation.
The bear was exceedingly dainty. It chewed up an empty Starbucks bag and left some muddy paw prints, nothing more.