Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Waterbury Center, has seen some recent activity around their dumpsters. The Valley Reporter talked with Paul Brown, the owner of Cold Hollow, to learn more about what happened.
Recently, Brown had found himself picking up trash around the dumpsters that had been rummaged through. They seemed to have been violated by an animal. “He’d (the animal) been getting in our dumpster and we’d had a heck of a time trying to keep him out.” said Brown.
The staff at Cold Hollow tried to keep the animal out by putting mesh wiring on top of the plastic lids of the dumpster. However, their efforts were not met with celebration, for the animal still got into the dumpster.
Over a week and a half ago, Cold Hollow personnel decided to call the Vermont state game warden to trap what they expected to be a bear. The warden came and set up a bear trap behind the dumpster. The trap was baited with donuts slathered in bacon grease, a delectable treat for a bear. The next day, a bear was found in the trap. It was smaller than expected. Brown said that the warden told them that it must be a yearling. A yearling is a bear that is 1 to 2 years old. Male yearlings weigh 50-70 pounds. Female yearlings weigh 30-50 pounds. The bear was relocated, and the problem was solved, or so Brown thought.
On July 20, Brown was still cleaning up garbage around the dumpsters. As it turns out, the bear that was caught was not the bear that was getting into the dumpster. The yearling bear was too small to be able to get into a dumpster. The warden will put another trap behind the dumpster and hopefully relocate the bear. The fight will continue on until the bear is caught, but before that day comes there will be more garbage to clean up.
