This hilarious security cam footage has captured the moment when a black bear regretted its decision to check out a pigsty. Considering that black bears are such good climbers, this individual finds it surprisingly hard to scale low fences. Once inside the enclosure, it gets attacked by not one but two angry pigs who are called Hamlet and Mary.
Its journey back over the fence is a lot quicker than when it came in! Scroll down to see the full extraordinary encounter between a bear and some furious pigs.
What Do Black Bears Normally Eat?
Black bears are omnivores and eat both plant and animal material. They spend most of their time looking for food. Bears are especially hungry when they have just emerged from their dens after the winter. During this time, the plants that makeup as much as 90 percent of their diet have not yet started to grow. This is when they will be looking for winter berries or mammals that they can hunt. Bears are also especially hungry during the fall. At that time, they are trying to put on plenty of weight to see them through the winter.
Why Are Black Bears Attracted to Pigsties?
Black bears can smell food and garbage from some distance away.
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It’s all about the smells! Black bears have an excellent sense of smell. You can see by the size of their long nose that they have plenty of nasal mucosa to pick up chemical signals from the air. Some experts claim that bears can smell food from several miles away. There are lots of attractive smells coming from a pigsty – if you are a bear that is! They will be attracted to the smell of the pigs themselves. They also love the smell of food (swill) that pigs are fed on. If pigs are fed scraps of human food that’s even better. Bears are highly attracted to human food because it is a very easy source of calories for them.
How to Bear-Proof Your Pigsty
If you have your own Hamlet and Mary and would like to protect them from cheeky black bears, there are a few things that you can do. The main line of defense in deterring hungry black bears is to remove what is attracting them in the first place. They are very attracted to both garbage and animal feed. Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep these in sealed containers.
You could also try visual deterrents such as solar night eyes or motion-sensitive outdoor lights. Other homeowners have had success with electric fencing which can be moved from one place to another to protect livestock in closures.
