A Thief in the Night

I was woken up early Sunday by a strange banging noise outside but fell quickly back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I later discovered our wheelie bin tipped over onto its side and all the rubbish within scattered and strewn across a neighbours front garden. We had had a night-time visitor and a quick glance down the road confirmed that we were not the only ones. Picking up the trail of rubbish into the woods it became clear a black bear had been doing the rounds. September sees a lot of activity from black bears as they try and fatten up prior to hibernation for the winter. It is not uncommon for them to enter suburban areas and raid bins looking for food for this reason. Although slightly disappointed I didn't actually get to see the perpetrator himself (or herself), I was also quite relieved not to have met them face to face. Black bear attacks on humans, although uncommon, are generally best avoided by using common sense and carrying Bear Spray or Bear Mace when out and about in the forest, biking or hiking. Black bears can reach 300lbs in weight and recorded attacks on people usually occur only when they are taken by surprise or encountered in the Spring newly awake and grumpy after waking from hibernation. As for our little night time raid, our visitor seems to have gotten away with it. Hopefully we shall see him or her no more now the bin is safely locked away in the shed. Yet another small difference between living in Worcestershire and BC.