A LOSING BATTLE Written by ©Barbara L. Chambers Carter In the early summer of 2006, Joe and I bought a huge storage bin with lift up lid, and two doors that open outward. We bought it with the full intention of keeping the bird seed feeders we took down every night in it. We set it right in front of the patio doors for easy access. One evening, just after dusk, I went to go outside, but as I looked out the door, I noticed the two doors on the bin were wide open. That is when, I saw the BACK END of a bear. It's big body, was inside the bin. I called for Joe, who was busy working on a crossword puzzle. We opened the patio door slightly, yelling at the bear to get going, shoooooo. The bear quickly darted off into the woods. We then proceeded outside, and saw that the bear had been enjoying the stored birdseed. Joe, putting on his thinking cap, went to the garage, and got a heavy metal Masterlock to put on the doors. Now it was secure. And for good measure, we brought the birdseed feeders in the house. Several hours later, we were getting ready for bed, and after checking all the doors, to be sure they were locked, the motion lights we had installed all around the house came on and we noticed stuff strewn all over the walk. There was no movement, or sight of a bear, so we opened the door, still very cautious, and discovered the heavy lid on top of the bin was ripped off. So much for putting a lock on it. GGGeeesshhhhhhh! Did you folks know that bears must like rock salt? I mean the kind used to melt ice in winter. Well we sure didn't, and we are still not sure of the bear's intention. Surely they don't eat that stuff? The bear dragged the bag of ice melt from the bin, and we could see the salt trail lead up into the mountain. Frustrated by now, we emptied everything we stored in the bin, and brought it all in the house. Then we picked up the bin, and carried it into the garage, till Joe could find time to repair it. The next morning we followed the trail of ice melt up into the mountain, till Joe found the salt bag, about a half mile away from the house. The bin has since been repaired, but now we only keep NON-eatable things in it. Live and Learn. Oh, and we now call the bin THE BEAR BOX LOL! Click here for More Real Bear Stories!!