This is a true story. It happened at my home in rural Kalispell, Montana in June, 2007.

Chapter 1 – Who stole the garbage?

I don’t have garbage collection at my home. The county has green box areas – fenced areas with a lot of those green garbage bins placed so that you can drive up and empty trash from a pickup or car. There is a trash truck there at least once a day to empty the green boxes. From my home, no matter what direction I head, there is a green box area on the way. I take whatever trash I have whenever I go out and drop it at one of the green box places. Trash in the garage too long is an attractant to animals…and makes the garage stinky!

I often leave the garage door open during the day as tools, garden implements, my hiking poles and other things I use outside are stored there. On the day this story begins there was one bag of garbage about halfway back in the garage, in a plastic bag, in the wheelbarrow. There was also a bag of grass seed, unopened, sitting the spreader by the door of the garage. The bag of grass seed plays a part in the story.

About 5 p.m., I stopped work for a break, collected my walking poles and called to Karl to go for a walk. It was a beautiful spring evening so I walked my “long” walk – heading down the driveway, around the edge of the property, around the edge of the adjoining vacant 30 acres and also around the edge of the adjoining state land – another 40 acres. The loop ends approaching the garage from behind and takes about 40 minutes by the time Karl and I meander around and stop to look (me) or sniff stuff (him).

As I came around the garage at the end of the walk, I saw the bag of garbage in the woods. It was torn apart and the contents scattered around. Rats! – there had been some dogs belonging to visitors in the area, that had been wandering on to the property until Karl suggested otherwise. I guessed that one or more of them had come around while we were walking and messed with the garbage. Then I saw the grass seed bag had been torn open, but it was still in the spreader. Odd…dogs usually would not mess with grass seed. I picked up the garbage and shut the door…muttering under my breath about people irresponsible with their pets.

Chapter 2 – Who is in the ravine?

The next morning the boys (Karl and Bob) and I were out early in the morning…6 a.m.ish or so – full daylight here. Karl and I have a treat ritual – he gets about ½ his treat allotment for the day and he puts them places around the yard…buries some, hides others. When he gets the munchies he goes and gets one – I don’t know why – he seems to like having them “in the bank”. So…he has a treat in his mouth, standing there deciding where he’s going to put this one when he comes to full alert – treat still in mouth… barks – kind of muffled ‘cuz he’s not dropping the treat.. – nose straight up in the air sniffing. That is the bear sniff – it is not done for deer or coyote or turkeys or anything but bears. He was near the back of the house looking down a small hill/ravine between my house and the neighbors’. The neighbors’ house is maybe 150 yards from mine through trees that we left thick for privacy.

Chapter 3 – All of our questions answered.

Later in the day….

Phone rings….

It is the neighbor. They called to tell me that they had arrived home from a shopping trip to find a black bear curled up on their front lawn with the remains of all of their bird feeders scattered around him. He barely woke when they came in, just rolled over and got more comfortable. Finally they tooted the horn and reved the engine and he got up and ambled off into the woods.

So, it was a bear in the ravine AND in the garbage and grass seed…and we never saw him.

Now, the garage door stays closed.

For a Colorado bear story from later in June 2007 while visiting my folks in South Fork, CO – Barely a bear .