We prefer to compost our food waste vs. filling our green bin and having the city remove it on a weekly basis. The is especially true in the summer when maggots and the like make the green bins challenging. So, we place our food scraps in a black compost bin and layer with soil and yard waste.

Two nights ago, our compost bin was knocked over and food scraps were strewn all over the lawn behind our garage. It seems a critter dropped in for a feast. I decided to put out my critter cam to see what I could spy.

The next night it was back. A black bear was enjoying our compost pile. He/she was not small either. The ledge you see in the top left of the video below is 28 inches tall and she has 8-10 inches on top of that.

We love being able to share our area with them.

This is not the first time we have had black bears. They are relatively common in our area of the city of Ottawa.

Here is a mother and her 2 cubs after they had pushed over a bird feeder right near our house in 2014.

 

Momma bear

Her cubs