I went to move the sprinkler hose in my back yard (not far from Reid Road and 44th/42nd) and found a giant black bear turd (fresh one) about 4-5 feet from the post to my back deck.  I like wildlife, but a big black bear in my back yard isn't something I want to deal with.

My wife saw one in our back yard about a year ago, but this is the first evidence of it coming around since then.  The turd wasn't there yesterday...  We have a large green space behind our house, and a protected wetland preserve on another side.  I don't mind squirrels, raccoons, or deer coming around, but a bear (or cougar) isn't anything I want to deal with.   I had heard they were around Gig Harbor, but this is a bit too close to home.

Green belts are a highway for wildlife. One good thing about bears is that they scare away the homeless.

Stumps, that is an excellent point.

Time to put Grizzlies in downtown Seattle

They’re more than likely scared of you. Just be sure to secure your garbage.

You will be fine .

I'm not worried about me, I just don't want to deal with having to shoot a bear then dealing with the state about why I shot a bear.  

My yard is open on all sides but one, and we deliberately leave it open so the wildlife will be able to get to the wetland preserve and the green space.  I saw a really big 3 X 3 point buck this year, and last year a doe with twins in the backyard.  We often see does and smaller bucks.  This isn't the first time we have had a bear in the back yard, and we keep our garbage in a closed garage unless it is garbage pickup day.

They are in my yard every week. One was in my yard yesterday. I grabbed a pot and a pan and banged them together and it ran away

I keep a can of bear spray next to the kitchen door and obviously a gun handy. My working theory is that noise scares them so firing at the ground in their general area is likely to work, just the noise of the shot should be enough. If it doesn't, hey that's what standard cap mags are for, I will have 16 more hardcast rounds to go

But in the several years I've lived here banging pots and pans is all I've ever needed to do to run them off.

If you're really paranoid an electric fence will mostly deter them. They will climb over anything else

Had one in gf's yard two days ago.  Looks like a young'un. 250-300 lbs. Slow walked right along the back deck then headed south into the shrubbery.

If your girlfriend looked like your avatar I suspect you wouldn't have noticed the bear.

This comment made my day...ty.

In my area, we've got black bears & mighty healthy looking mountain lions, at least judging from the trail cam pics I've recently seen.

A boy can dream...