[Hog Buster]

Thanks for the replies.

We have always had a small population of Black bears here, but all were residents, not imported from somewhere else. I’ve had a couple of encounters with these locals and all it took to rid the area was a loud “Git”. They high tailed it.

Some years back Minnesota park bears were introduced southeast of here. From what I’ve heard it was a mess. They wound up in garages, carports, patios, under houses, plus several were hit by cars. I’d hate to have history repeated here. I’m not afraid of them, but the wife is a city girl. It took a while to get her to accept the coyotes, wild hogs and other varmints. Bears on the verandah might be somewhat difficult.

They’re so protected here that you may not even be able to chase them out your front yard. God forbid you had to shoot one. They’ve got more rights than humans.

I’m in the southeastern part of the state, so not sure they hibernate here. Might be too warm. One of my bear encounters was in the dead of winter and he sure didn’t look drowsy to me. While not streamlined, they can move pretty fast.

At any rate someone is planning for a population explosion. All the new highways being built near here have large culverts under them designated as bear crossings. Maybe they think that Yogi is smarter than the average bear and can read the signs. I guess we’re gonna find out.