Tuesdays are trash days around here. Since we’ve moved here we’ve had a trash carrier that came at or after 7:00 a.m. Starting this year they switched carriers and our trash pick-up is now at 6:00 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. For us this is a huge difference since we are not early morning risers. We are doing good to shush the dogs when they start stirring at 5:30 to appease them until we really want to get up at 6:30.

So, that being said we have started to put our trash out the night before because we are
a) still asleep when they pick the trash up
b) too lazy get up before they come

So be it.

All has been well until two weeks ago when we looked out the window after the trash had been picked up to see that there was trash strewn all over the street. Crap. Bear(s). We picked up what we could and thought that was the extent of it. My neighbor Kim informed me that there was still trash in their woods across from our driveway. Sure enough, when I went over there with gloved hands, our trash was everywhere.

What I picked up might just prompt all of you out there reading this to think about just what you discard in your trash. You toss it away in the hopes that no one ever sees it, but let me tell you when you pick it up after it being strewn all over the neighbors’ woods, you just might want to give it a second thought. Really, How embarrassing! Gross. The bear obviously took all the good stuff and left the rest.

But, once again, I regress.

Tonight when Rick got home I had collected all the household trash, which he so sweetly took out as his weekly household chore. Not more than one hour after he did so, I happened to look out to see our trash cans toppled over and trash bags out in the street. I said “Rick, crap. Looks like the bear got into our trash already.” He went out and started up the driveway to pick it up. I heard him saying “shoo” (kind of of like Meryl Streep in Out of Africa) rather loudly and “leave that alone!”

Gosh. I didn’t see anything.

Turns out, the bear was right there and he didn’t see it until he got up closer to the trash. He was clapping his hands and yelling, saying things like “shoo” and I was panicked. Heck ... he was pretty close to a bear eating garbage and he was afraid for me while we were washing the car? I think this posed a more dangerous position, given that this bear (according to Rick) was about 300+ pounds and not a homeless cub. Yikes.

The bear took off into the woods and we gathered up the trash bags, loaded them back into the trash cans and carried them back down the long driveway and into the garage.

Guess the alarm will be set early tomorrow.

Sigh. Life with bears in the wilds of New Jersey.

(Not trading this rural-bear-dense-life! even if it means a little less sleep!)