Randi Minetor

And then, of course, the usuals, the raccoons that have been scavenging for a very long time, and some of the other animals that are finding this particularly advantageous for them.

That is absolutely the case.

Some animals, in fact, really prefer to be around humans, particularly while they're raising their young, because there are certain predators that will not approach human beings and don't want to be on their property.

So they're...

Foxes in particular are very fond of nesting under somebody's garage or their back steps or their porch and raising their kits right there where, you know, the usual predators won't go.

So there are some advantages like that.

But it's true that the more time that animals spend around humans, the more they realize that we are not predatory, that we're not going to hurt them.

So they get a little bolder.

And the more they find food and other resources that they want from us, the more often we're going to see them, the more frequently they're going to visit.

So in particular, the bear in your area doesn't sound like he's coming onto your property particularly to find his dinner for that evening.

But there may be something right there in the neighborhood that he frequents.

So he's coming.

He just happens to pass by you.

Yeah, and that's the thing, that in the end, you can still intimidate the bear, or at least annoy it.

That will do it.

But the thing about bears is they have an extraordinary sense of smell.

So whatever you have in the house or in the garage, the garage is usually where they plunder, where they'll chew their way through a door or just knock it down and go in and get whatever they want out of the trash.

that they can smell.

But when it comes to getting into your house, then the question becomes, what have you got that they can smell?

And peanut butter would be a strong one for that.