Above: A hungry visitor checks out a backyard birdfeeder in town. (Posted to YouTube by Paul D’Amico)
A Southborough resident turned amateur detective to find out who was vandalizing his bird feeder. As you can tell by now, it wasn’t a pesky racoon or neighborhood punk.
Paul D’Amico shared:
My backyard bird feeder kept getting knocked down at night. I put out a camera with a motion detector to find out what was doing this and was shocked the next morning to see a large bear. [Here is] the 20 second video clip which was taken on May 3rd, at 11:00PM. I also attached a photo of the metal pole the feeder was on that the bear snapped in half. [Click thumbnail to enlarge]
D’Amico may not have known that bears wander through town, but I’m sure some of you remember it’s not the first time.
So I guess it’s time for the annual reminder – outdoor food sources like bird feeders do attract bears. And they don’t just visit at night. So you may want to reconsider them.
(Of course I know that many of you bird lovers won’t. But I have to say it.)
I’m curious as to what part of town this was in.
Bird lovers shouldn’t mind, as feeders should only be out in the winter and theoretically bears should be hibernating…although in New England that is not as prevalent as it is in colder climes. Now that the birds can find their own food, the feeders can be put away and the bears will go find food somewhere else….hopefully :-)
Along these lines, last week I saw what I am almost sure was a coyote while running near the Finn school at dawn.
Probably was s coyote. We hear them howling s lot at night, and we live fairly near the school.
Betsy – Coyote are not nocturnal. They just prefer to hunt in the dark of the night. And the same with fox.
Kathy – It was on High Street.
I saw the coyote also near Finn!!
For sure, it was a coyote. About 50-70 pounds. Still had winter coat. It is between parkerville and woodland south of route 9.
Saw it run through the woods behind my house at dusk on Sunday.
Ken – I had been a wildlife photographer, with coyote being my focus, for 11 years. With that, I have studied them for longer. Coyotes have never been recorded to be over 47lbs and 70 lbs is a real stretch. I suggest you check out these links with the Massachusetts division of Wildlife and Fisheries to learn more about coyotes.
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/eastern-coyote-in-massachusetts.html
And:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/preventing-conflicts-with-coyotes.html