We started feeding the birds too early last year and we paid for it. My husband kept a 30 gallon trash can filled with bird seed near the deck, bungee-corded to keep the critters out, but it was no match for the bears. They just pounded it and rolled it until the top popped off and they had a banquet of seeds!

We were about to start putting out our bird feeders this year when we got word from a neighbor that the bears were on the move. Bear scat on the upper road cinched it! We haven’t seen them, but neither are we seeing our birds.

Again, I loved your story and I’m so glad I got the chance to read it.