Thank you Debbie but I have been down that road a long time ago and I can assure you you cannot stop a bear once he/she gets the smell of bird seed. They love it. One night I watched a good size bear in my yard from my kitchen window with the porch light on and it was trying to figure out how to get to this feeder set the way you said. It did not take long as it just climbed one tree and took a big swipe at the rope holding the feeder up and down it all came and the bear right behind it. Here in N.Y it is illeagle to feed bears and this is considered feeding them so the DEC states if you don't feed them they won't come. They even give you a nice sign to place on the front of your house if you are a good neighbear. I also watched one in front of my garage try to undo the rope that went up to a pulley in a tree for a feeder. The rope was hooked on my garrage This one I hollowed at and it ran but I had to take the feeder in or loose it. Also about the PVC pipe, NG the raccoons I posted a while ago just went up it like it was wood. Bears overpower and raccoons outsmart you. I love it :biggrin: :biggrin:Thanks, everyone. I hope that I get as many as last year. The males arrive first, then the female and juveniles arrive about a week later. The male juvenile looks so much more like a female but I have learned how to tell them apart. Easter morning is normally the time of the year that they arrive.
Lou, sorry to hear that the black bears and Raccoons were getting into your feeders. If you have two trees that you can string a rope between them, you can put the feeders on the rope. Place a couple of short PVC pipes on each end of the rope and the Raccoons will fall off of the pipes. Just make sure that your feeders are high enough so the bears can't reach them. Just a little trick I read somewhere.