Out here in the country, bears take the notion of "rural" seriously. Even though we live in a subdivision with 38 lots less than a mile from a highway, black bears prowl the neighborhood looking for a tasty snack.
We deposit our trash and garbage in a 50-gallon plastic container on the deck, and put recycling items into a second container. Some neighbors store their trash containers in their garage, but we don't have one of those.
Several times a bear has carried the trash container off the deck and into the yard, then clawed it and jumped on it until the top popped off. Here's the culprit:
We finally decided enough is enough. Louise designed a very heavy-duty enclosure to hold the trash cans, and keep the bear away from them.
The enclosure has 4x4 corner posts, and is sheathed with 2x6 boards (the right side and back have 1x6 deck boards because they're against the deck railing).
Two front doors, each weighing about 70 pounds, hang on farm gate pintles. Each half of the split lid weighs about the same, and has two heavy-duty hinges at the back.It has a lip that captures the doors and holds them closed. We made lid supports from 1" steel conduit with 3D-printed plastic tips that rest in holes in the front beam.
We leave the lid off the often-used recycling bin (left) so we can dump items directly into it with one hand while lifting the heavy enclosure lid with the other. We sealed the cracks between boards on the enclosure lid with silicone to keep rain out of the recycling bin.
Mike 3D-printed a bracket to hang the recycling bin lid on the left side of the enclosure, and a handle glued to the lid to help hang it. The bracket is barely visible screwed to the wood.
Looking good so far. We'll be surprised and dismayed if the bear manages to get the trash can from this monster.
The bear paid a visit at 3am, and the game camera caught five images of him/her exploring the enclosure. This photo is #4, just before the bear gave up and trundled away.
We're encouraged that he didn't try to claw his way in. We're also surprised the bear wasn't deterred by the bright motion-sensor LED floodlights that turned on as he approached.
Updated April 11, 2024