Bear Warning

Each Berkshire spring warms up sleeping black bears, who wake up hungry. How hungry? Hungry enough to sniff out your bird feeders, and big enough to disregard even a beagle's warning howls as it homes in on a few ounces of bird seed.

At Bruce and Liz's house, bears are an annual event, sufficiently alarming to send out the alarm: "Time to take down the bird feeders!" Those who neglect the warning watch in alarm as the bruins bend steel pipe, rip open storage sheds, and otherwise intrude on one's sense of security.

Take heed; the bears are about, and hungry!