Found a pile of mussel shell halves amongst some....

[AngieSmokes]

...bear scat in the backyard yesterday. Ouchie for that poor bear, I would think. The shells weren't from our garbage; we are careful to lock ours up now.  Am I right to worry that a bear might run off with our #2 if we leave it where it is on the back porch?  Argh, it's a long, steppy trek to roll it into the garage but probably shouldn't gamble...

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[Pork Belly]

Yea good luck with that, we have the same problem with the neighbors cats.

[BedouinBob]

I have had bears break into my closed off deck for garbage and break my backyard fence down in the process. Thought the house was getting broken into.  Had mom and baby sitting on the front porch burping sour cherries from our trees in the front. They have never bothered the smoker though. I don't think there is enough meat smell or it is covered by the smoke which scares them. Don't give them any ideas though! 

[DivotMaker]

Wow!  We have black bears in Arkansas, but not that common in my area.  I feel for those of you that have to deal with that!

[Pork Belly]

It would be nice if your bear would eat my neighbors cats...

[BedouinBob]

I actually wish they would take out the neighbor dog that goes ballistic every time I step into the back yard. 

[AngieSmokes]

We have no fence and face a pretty large greenbelt that leads into the Cascades. Makes for unbelievable scenery, but it also brings with it quite a few bears, bobcats and coyotes, which means literally zero worries of neighbor cats (or for that matter, small yappy dogs). I like cats though. Our two are indoor only, luckily for the hares and birds but unfortunately for their sometimes bored selves... But I've had to chase coyotes out of the backyard with a pitchfork. They just aren't afraid and will stare you down like, "You mad, bro?" or sis, in this case.

The bears are amazingly strong - they rolled/dragged this thing a full 150 feet uphill, making it entirely unfeasible outside of an electric fence. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008Z9ZF . It was shoddily built anyhow. Me = dupe.