I live in the Las Padres mountains. We have an abundance of wildlife and bears are in the mix. When we first moved here almost ten years ago, our neighbors made a point of teaching us how to secure our trash cans so the bears wouldn’t be able to get into them. Bears are pretty smart you know. They can open trash cans, car doors and some know how to break and enter houses. You haven’t lived until you have cleaned up after a bear party. One evening, a mama bear turned our trash bin on its side and was able to get the tie down straps loosened enough for one of her cubs to crawl in as she pried the lid open. It seemed like a good idea to her at the moment but the minute she let go, the lid snapped shut and the cub was trapped. Junior wasn’t going to be able to pass her the scraps from the chocolate cream pie that we had enjoyed the day before. A few times, she walked a ways down the road hoping he would squeeze out and follow her. We wanted to help but were afraid she would think we were trying to hurt her cub and she would most likely maul us to death. Rightfully so. We watched helplessly out our front window as the cub squalled and mama worked to get him out. She was finally able to pry the lid open enough to coax him out with pieces of crust and whipped cream stuck to his fur. I guess there are worse things to get locked up with.

I do have an outside refrigerator that I use when we entertain. I added velcro locks to the top of the doors not really expecting any visitors. It is located on our back deck that you have to climb a flight of stairs to reach from the outside. I was surprised one morning that the bar handle had been broken at the bottom but the door had stayed closed. When I told our neighbor, who teaches survival skills, what had happened, he said, “That bear won’t be back.” I looked confused and asked why. “He knows he can’t get into it.” I shrugged. “If it were me, I would try a few more times just to make sure I couldn’t.” He smiled. “Bears are smarter than that.”