‌🍃‌[FESTIVAL] Living with bears‌🍃‌

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

Living with Bears, is Bears Living with Us, actually.

This past year our trail cameras showed us 6 healthy, very wild bears; in their forest, which we call ours, since we pay the property taxes. We do our change of perspective thing, as appropriate coexistence is the goal. Our wilderness neighbors have decided we are Mostly Harmless as we have learned to behave ourselves in their wilderness home.  

One of the things that the system urges us to do, in the habit of sustainability, is to compost our non-meat food scraps. Those who live on county roads have trash pickup, we don’t. We haul everything to the town recycling center/dump. Our part of California has rules that anything that can be composted, must be. This is all excellent. And then there are Bears.

For years we got away with wonderful homemade worm bins, in the barn. Eventually the Bears got curious and tore them apart. We plan to rebuild them, as worm bins are amazing. We can also compost shredded home and office paper in them. We all get too much paper, and feeding it all to worms is pretty awesome.

We went with various bins again, and, as we had always wanted, a tumbling one. Bear comments on it, regularly rolling it down a steep slope until it stops at the deer fence. Yes, we have her on camera rocking it till it rolls.  Back to the drawing board. 

Years ago we did a compost thing by digging a hole and putting our vegetable scraps in it. The wild ones taught us that a liberal application of something spicy made their noses wrinkle up from the powerful smell. Now that the rainy season is about over, we are dousing the bins with the hottest hot sauce we could find at the grocers. So far so good. Stay Tuned!

We’ve this lovely fruitful French Prune tree in the garden, which generations of Bears keep a close eye on for when the fruit is perfectly ripe. This wonderful tree is splinted, bandaged and supported in many places, where Bears have easily climbed to harvest the sweet fruit. The same with “our” apple and pear trees. Opossums consider that we’ve grown grapes just for them, and Ravens almost always beat us to the cherries. Deer insist that our garden is a deluxe salad bar, but that is another story, for another day.

Did I mention that we planted an extra French Prune tree, just for the Bears? 

Best wishes and lots of fun to you!

Kitty & Creek

[Quincy]

Such a great story @Kitty-and-Creek0! I had to chuckle at the bit where you mentioned having to add something spicy to the compost and the bins to fend off some of the wildlife! 

How often do you encounter the bears helping themselves to the fruit in your garden? 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Quincy 

They wait till the fruit is just ready to pick and get the night there before we do. Moms and their cubs! We have many videos on trail cams. It takes only one visit and the tree is Bare! 

[Laurelle3]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 as we don't live with bears Downunder. These episodes from the bears are intriguing. I think you should put these events into a book. 

We have the possum eating the young leaves on the passionfruit leaves and flowers that grow along the fence. Or the birds pecking the tomatoes.

This is the life or where we live with nature. We consider ourselves lucky.

[Helen744]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 such a lovely example of conservation and living with the environment. I spent many years as a conservation activist in my younger days and a conflict between those who want to live in the 'wilderness areas and the rights or lack of them of the current inhabitants , aka ,plants animals etcetera became glaringly obvious . Eco tourism is big business but comes also with huge responsibilities. I cannot imagine co habiting with bears but it sounds very special and a huge privledge and responsibility. In Australia we are suffering a rapid loss of biodiversity and a high extinction rate for plants and animals , much of it caused by the breakdown of the surrounding forests caused by the encroachments of man.  Living lightly on our planet is something you appear to do and are sucessful at ,sharing this with others helps to contain the harm .Good Luck .. H

[TamaraAndSteve0]

We just got a LOMI composter as outdoor composters are an attractant.  Our region wants it separated.  We hope guests can use the counter top composter.  Most guests are good and never leave garbage  outside the house.  Our bears pooped all over the construction site of our home as a protest, but we seem to coexist on our 8 acres just fine now.  ALthough it's the same region where the bear broke in someones car an drank 60+ soda pops.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@TamaraAndSteve0 

Huge wow to you! 

We warn guests that leaving food in a car is not a good idea at all. They definitely know how to open car and truck doors. Habituated bears are in real danger of losing their lives. 

So far so good on the hot pepper sauce, btw. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Kitty-and-Creek0 ,

This is such a great story! I admire your creativity and passion to coexist with the bears, while still prioritizing your sustainable goals. I also love that you planted a French Prune tree of their own. Please share photos if you can!

Best wishes to you both,
Catherine

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

 @Catherine-Powell 

Thanks for asking - Just took this photo of the French Prune trees in bloom. And that is snow, yes, on the high mountains to the rear. Photo is view from the kitchen! 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

French prunes blooming in today's sunshine!

[Delphine348]

Hello @Kitty-and-Creek0 ,

Thank you for sharing your way of co existing with the wildlife in your area, I love when you write "in their forest, which we call ours".

It reminded me of a film I saw 2 years ago I think and which I recommend to all of us.

It's the story of "Apricot Lane Farms, a traditional foods farm started by John and Molly Chester, a husband and wife team, who left their jobs in Los Angeles to become farmers and pursue their dream vision of starting Apricot Lane Farms in 2011. Located 40 miles north of Los Angeles, the farm is dedicated to the mission of creating a well-balanced eco-system and rich soils that produce nutrient-dense foods while treating the environment and the animals with respect.

Apricot Lane farm residents include pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, guinea hens, horses, highland cattle, and one brown swiss dairy cow named “Maggie.” Many of which, you will meet in the BIGGEST LITTLE FARM. The land consists of Biodynamic Certified avocado and lemon orchards, a vegetable garden, pastures, and over 75 varieties of stone fruit.

https://www.biggestlittlefarmmovie.com/

I guess you have seen it, if not, it will certainly please you !

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Delphine348 

That's a terrific story, thanks for the recommendation!

This is another biodynamic region - Mendocino County is home to pioneering agricultural methods of food farming. John Jeavons, Ridgewood Ranch, many CSA's including Live Power Farm...So much to learn and appreciate!

[Gina2385]

It looks like this is really cool and it's just so nice to enjoy the stages of life.