A year ago (or was it 2?), a sow and her yearling cubs killed my three ducks, and perhaps 24 neighbor chickens, over the course of three nights.

A couple of nights ago, a bear – likely the American black bear (Ursus americanus), and probably the californiensis sub-species – visited my garden.  The bear M.O. is to crush the fence, which in turn uproots the peeler cores, embedded though they are in concrete.  Bears are heavy.

This particular bear (or bears?) was after the compost, and after nosing around in it, presumably finding some tasty morsels – a rotten mandarin, perhaps some egg shells or vegetable peelings? – it moved on, leaving me with a wrecked fence and this.  A friend of mine has one of those motion detector cameras, and we’re going to set it up and see if we can’t get a look at the miscreant.  Despite their name, the bears I’ve seen around here aren’t black at all, but a lovely reddish-brown.  I’m ambivalent about bear damage – I suppose it’s just part of the deal, living close to the edge of the El Dorado National Forest.  I will probably leave the fence as-is until the time of the bears has passed – they usually hang around for month or so in early spring, upsetting trashcans and fences, and then disappear until the following year.