More stories of Bears at Lake Tahoe (don't worry, I will include some car photos, too.) Wednesday has always been trash pick-up day around Lake Tahoe. We used to put our trash cans out Tuesday evening, but the Lake Tahoe Bears put a stop to that. They knew that trash day was Wednesday. We would look outside in the morning and the entire street, curb to curb, was full of garbage, every Wednesday morning. Then the local communities mandated that the trash barrels had to be kept in a container, large enough to hold two garbage cans, fastened to the ground, and with a door on it to keep the Bears out. That lasted about two weeks, and instead of Wednesday being garbage clean up day, there were 2 by 4's and wood planks spread out along with the garbage. Then the rule was we had to purchase heavy duty steel containers, with steel doors, which finally did the trick on Wednesday, unless you had your car parked outside on Wednesday mornings. All you needed was to have a half eaten candy bar inside your car, which pretty much led to having to buy a new car. "Hey, where's the key, I have places to go, people to see." Bears have no problem using a paw to push in your car windows if they smelled food in your car. The problem is, the bigger bears did not have enough room in the cars to scrounge around, and many times, just got frustrated trying to remember which window he came in through. A frustrated Bear is like a big box of dynamite. They lose their temper. Here are photos of some of the results of having a large bear lose his temper inside your car. The good news and the bad news about the Bears up at Lake Tahoe is that they intermingle with people so often that they have no fear of people whatsoever. I was sitting in a beach chair in my driveway reading a book once, and a large Bear walked by next to me so close that his hair brushed against my arm. I had not seen him coming, he had come up from behind me. He just kept walking, never even turned around.
The Jalopy Journal
