Yes, that's a bear in my front yard. The one (in my profile pic) is a cub I named Buster. His momma and brother (a yearling), Bruno, were both close by. They come almost daily (sometimes twice in one day) to see if there is any bird seed in the feeder or to turn large rocks for bugs, steal the pears and peaches or check out what's in my garden. Now that spring is here, they should start coming by again...maybe with a new cub or two.

Here's a male, Brutus, having a sunflower seed snack at the same feeder pole. The feeder hangs at just about 6-7 feet off the ground. I have to bring feeders in every night or keep them in for days at a time to discourage the bears. It's not a good idea to feed them.

He was completely unfazed by me being on the screened porch 25' away. They are used to gun shot noises and dogs barking...nothing really scares them.

Yes, one has to be VERY careful with bears. They are unpredictable.
Brutus looks like a brute all right! I'd be uncomfortable around HIM.

Ours are typically not nearby when we are out...we call them the "shy bears". But for several seasons there was a glut of them and the DNR put out hunting licenses for a while, and that stopped.

We are on an island, so they swim over.

Some of the bears up there have torn the siding off homes, to get in. (we store all food in double plastic air tight containers for that reason). Also one bear one year got so angry when he couldn't find food at a local's home, he trashed her solar lights, which she used to light her driveway. It was a very expensive visit! One year a bear came in the night when I was up there alone, and trashed all my hummingbird feeders. I used a glue to plug the fang holes in them, and managed to limp thru the season that way.

Most of the time the bears come when relatives leave for home up there. They typically put all food out that they don't take back with them. (those that fly are the worst offenders). Then the bear show up to eat the dumped food/crackers/cereal/cookies whatever). This is one reason I like having the deer around. The deer will skoot off for a few days when the bear arrive. That tells me they are near and to be careful.

The deer do not like our black cats. But they are unfazed by other colors. Here is a pic of Oreo watching them last year.
But we have had some does charge our black cats, and also do aggressive postures and sounds when the black ones are out.
They must think the cats are small bears?

The bucket is water for the deer to keep them off our shore where my plants are. They typically drink after using the salt lick. Next to them on the milk crate is a bird bath I made when we discovered the birds liked the bucket...so we put a stick in the bucket for them to perch on. Who would have thought with water everywhere, the birds would love this bird bath so much? But we learned that eventually!

I agree, bears are very unpredictable and MUST be respected.

Our first encounter shortly after moving here was two bears tearing up the screened porch because I left a closed rubbermaid tub of bird seed on the porch (lesson learned :eek:). I cleaned up the mess and fixed all the screen only to have them come right back the next morning and tear it up again...even though there was nothing on the porch. They are creatures of habit and once they find food, they will always remember and come back. That's why i must take all feeders in every night...and yes, they have gotten my hummer feeders as well.

They will break into homes and/or garages looking for food if they smell it or are starving. I think/hope we have enough natural fruit and berries for them here so they won't attempt a home invasion...LOL

I bet the deer DO think your cats are cubs. Good the deer alert you (by their absence) that bears may be around. Watching and/or listening to animals can tell you many things about what's in the area, weather, storms, etc.

My biggest fear is my dog. She would (in fun only) chase a cub if she saw it...which would likely be fatal if the momma has anything to say about it. I must visually check the area before taking her out and she's never allowed to stay out by herself.

The game dept has come out for a visit due to the heavy bear traffic we have. They don't relocate bears unless they are aggressive. So we just try to learn to live with them. They are beautiful and interesting creatures.