By Bob Hedlund | on June 24, 2022

A roaming bear dislodged an outdoor camera normally mounted to a large bird feeder pole in the author’s yard. The camera captured this photo of Yogi’s failed attempt to raid the feeders. Submitted photos.

AURORA — You might recall the bear photo that my husband, Dan Toms, took and was featured on the cover of Hometown Focus on June 19, 2020. Well, since then, that little stinker got the best of me and many of my bird feeders! So, in the fall of 2021, I decided to erect a bear-proof pole—one that I could hang several feeders on and not be at the mercy of a hungry bear ever again! It was just getting too costly and was always a roll of the dice as to when we’d have the first strike and sighting in our neighborhood. That was a poor indicator of when I should start putting the bird feeders away at night.

So, the hubs and I went to Radko in Hibbing and got a 14-foot steel pole. A few bags of cement later, along with some paint and copper piping, we had a new bear-proof pole installed! The question was, would it actually work the next summer?

Our bear keeps banker’s hours and arrived just minutes before 8 a.m. He/she must not be an earlier riser (we have that in common)! I keep an outdoor camera that is magnetic and attaches anywhere to metal surfaces, so naturally I placed it on our new pole so we could observe the wildlife that travels through our yard while we sleep.

Amy Nossum is pictured beside her bear-proof pole, from which hang nine bird feeders.

This particular morning, the camera was knocked off on its first attempt to climb and conveniently fell onto the ground, giving a perspective from a bug’s life (movie reference intended). As the sun was rising over the roof of our house, the bear attempted a few times before finally giving up.

I have nine feeders total on that 14-foot pole. Because it’s at a four-foot depth in cement, leaving 10 feet above ground, it’s a challenge to fill the very top of the feeder. Taking inspiration from the man and legend Red Green himself (from the Red Green Show), the hubs and son used a shop vac, PVC pipe, some Scandihoovian ingenuity, and of course LOTS of duct tape, and voila! They had built a mini grain conveyor that sounded like a hot air popper from back in the ‘80s. They had that feeder filled in no time!

It’s always fun to compare wildlife sightings with my neighbors and play “backyard bingo,” since we live in such a heavily wooded area on the edge of town. We usually see a raccoon with a stump for a tail, a fox, a coyote, many deer, bunnies, and even a stray cat. One day I hope to see a moose stroll through—you never know!

I’m very grateful that all of these animals feel safe enough to choose a path through where we live. And when managed correctly, you can avoid the destruction bears can cause when food is scarce while still enjoying a huge variety of backyard birds during

Amy Nossum lives in Aurora.

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