Bear Damage

Wednesday morning I was getting ready to let Rita out, and took a look around the backyard first as I always do. I take a look because there is a fox around, and I have seen coyote. The fox could definitely get into the pen if it wanted to, and perhaps the coyote too (I don't think so, but you never know). The neighbor's cat come in sometimes. Rita isn't interested in finding a way to escape so I just worry about something getting in. Well, this is what I saw

Hey, at least he left the feeder - and it was still in good shape. I know it didn't have very much in it as the squirrels are pretty thorough and compete heavily with the birds. All the bear had to do was turn the feeder upside down and it would have spilled the handful or two of seeds and nuts. Seriously, the only damage to the feeder was existing from the squirrels chewing thru the heavy plastic pipe at one of the feeding ports (thru the mesh wire around it).

Needless to say, Rita did not get to go out. After I got off work, I removed the fence panel, the very one that got crunched when the willow tree top came down. I tried to straighten the panel out again (remember, it had been smashed previously), but the bottom pole had been bent into a V so when I stood it up, the only part that touched the ground was the point. Even after "straightening", the top now has two kinks, one on either side of the center brace, so it wouldn't be stable. That green pole is a heavy duty T-bar that I didn't have a hope of straightening.

I neglected to take a picture, but the bear also bent the heck out of the cast iron feeder pole to get the feeder off.

I went to the local Agway and asked for a kennel expansion panel, and would they please deliver. However, checking all their 6 stores, there were no expansion panels to be found, only 1 or two kennel sets (10 x 10 x 6). Apparently those are in short supply and they couldn't even get any thru their connections. ARRGGHH.  Friday I contacted a fencing company to get a bar to replace the bootm piece. Once I got it all pt back together, I made it work, but this can't be the permanent solution this time.

It's not pretty, in fact downright ugly, but I can let Rita out anyway. It is barely stable because it is still horribly out of wack and doesn't track along the straight line of the timber it is supposed to rest on.I'm pretty sure that the first snow dump off the roof would wipe it out.

It's times like these I wish I had a real truck. I can find a used panel on CL but getting it here from 40 miles away is a challenge without a vehicle that has the capacity to carry it. And if I have to rent a vehicle to carry it - well, let's just say I might as well buy the entire kennel from Agway between the mileage and gas I would have to pay for.

Comments

[Cop Car]

It gets expensive in time/money to clean up with the wildlife with which we compete. At least you won't have to replace the feeder. That bear was feeling its Wheaties to have bent the T-bar and cast iron (?) pole; although, I'm wondering if you meant wrought iron since cast iron is brittle enough that I would expect it to break rather than bending?

It is handy (for all the Wichita-area family) that WichiDude still has his red truck. He can haul anything that is too large for my car or their SUVs - such as the extension ladder that he took to the girls a couple of weeks ago (sanitized, masked, & properly distanced).

[Ruth]

no kennel panels available here either.

[bogie]

I don't know the difference between cast and wrought, so you are probably correct CC. All I know is that sucker was heavy duty. Couldn't even find something comparable to it now (and I got that in 2013 or 2014 locally). I tried leverge bending and when that didn't do anything, I banged on it about 30 times with a sledge hammer trying to get the bend out and all it did was scuff the paint. I have no idea how the bear bent it without it popping out of the ground first.