Black Bear

Had wind and rain last night - but I was watching the first five episodes of Vikings (season 2) and didn't care.  Rosie and I had a good night, but I awoke at 5 this morning because I heard the recycling bin being "stirred."  I'm used to hearing the clinking and clattering of glass and cans at 5 a. m. when I'm at home - that's when the Millennium takes their trash out.  But I was sleeping with Rosie, in her house, in north Boulder - and the trash pick-up had been Tuesday, for compostables and trash, not for recycling.  So I wandered downstairs and continued to hear things being moved around in the recycling bin - a heavy-duty 50-gallon bin on rollers, with an attached top.  I stepped into the garage, and silently opened the lock on the rear door.  There was a black bear digging in the bin - looking for food, I'm guessing.  The paper recycling bin was open, and stuff was strewn about in the yard, and the bear was digging through the glass and metal bin.  I know very well that what goes into that bin has been washed out with dish soap, so there shouldn't be any food scent left to those items...  But there was the bear.  The actual trash can was empty, but is kept inside the locked garage.  So I went upstairs, after closing and relocking the door, and in about 5 minutes, the bear was certain there was nothing to eat, and so he wandered across the street and down by the creek.  I waited for an hour before I went and picked up all the trash in the yard, and placed it back into the correct bins.  I guess I'll have to suggest either big bungee straps or locks for the cans at night, since the bears are coming down from the hills now, and are seeking food.  (And Rosie slept through it all, thank goodness!)