Bear bites.

I would appreciate it greatly if you would all write to the gentleman across the street and tell him he needs to keep his garbage can inside the garage until the morning of collection day. Thank you very much.

I had to be up early Saturday morning, and thus, so did the dogs. We went out the front door and Holy Toledo! A black bear, had to be 300 pounds, was having a Bear Smorgasbord on the contents of the garbage can that the gentleman mentioned above will not keep in the house.

I understand the issues involved. My garage is connected to the cellar, where any odors are well contained; his garage is right by the kitchen. It's also stuffed to the rafters with toys and luggage and things. But he has two little kids, and if I were him I wouldn't want a big bear hanging around the yard where a kid could become a snack.

For that matter, he probably didn't enjoy being awakened by two insane dogs barking toward his house at 5:15 on a Saturday morning.

I suppose the bears have started their fattening-up rituals and we should expect this kind of thing. My neighbor especially should expect it, because his can and another guy's got nailed last Tuesday on trash day. I believe they both put out the trash on Monday night. I didn't see the bear that time, but his can was knocked over and a bag dragged out halfway across the lawn. Raccoons don't bother doing that.

Anyway, nothing we've said around here seems to have changed his habits, so now I have to resort to asking outsiders to send him a message. Feeding bears by leaving around garbage is bad for the bears and dangerous for everyone else. It can't be helped on garbage day, but it can be helped the other days of the week. He either gets his act together or we have to pitch in to buy him a secure anti-bear disposal unit. But if those are tricky enough to outsmart the bears, they might be too much for him as well.