PEAK TO PEAK - While we are between the two most dramatic bear-sighting periods—when they first wake up starving in spring, and when they are fattening up in early fall before hibernating—our ursine friends, knowing that human presence means food, continue to invade our spaces and hijack our food.

Protecting ourselves and our groceries and, yes, our garbage requires some simple but annoying tasks.

First, don’t leave anything that even smells like food where they can smell it. That means NEVER leaving food in the car or truck. I’m one of those who learned the hard way that a bear wanting to get at food in a car is strong enough to wrench off the door or break a window to get in.

 Keeping garbage secure means more than covering your trash can. Keep garbage inside a solid, aroma-proof area. Your garage may not be secure enough—ours wasn’t. We came out one morning to find the garage door forced open and the remains of a bear picnic all over the floor. Cleaning up the trash was easy; paying for the repairs to the door was not.

 Finally, if you are one of the many local residents who loves feeding the hummingbirds, make sure your bird feeders are WELL out of the reach of any passing bear.

So: do not put feeders on a convenient deck. They should be at least at the second floor level, with no way for a bear to reach them. This goes for regular bird feeders, too. Bears don’t like seeds and nuts as much as sweet water, but if they are hungry enough….

Our local bears are not aggressive with people, and are likely to run from you as soon as they see you. But not if there is food nearby. Please be safe, keep your food safe, and keep our bears safe.