Vermont governor tangles with bears

Talk about close encounters, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin had one he’ll never forget. “I had a close encounter with a bear, four bears to be exact,” Shumlin told The Associated Press (AP).

Shumlin awoke one night to find the bears trying to snack from backyard birdfeeders at his rented home in Montpelier, the state capitol. He ventured outside — yikes! — to shoo the bears off, until one of them chased him.

 Fortunately for Shumlin, he was too quick, or the bear was too slow. Anyway, the governor didn’t end up as a snack himself. “It was probably six feet from me before I slammed the door, and it ran the other way,” Shumlin told AP.

It was the middle of the night, understand, so the governor wasn’t exactly dressed for company. “I sleep like many Vermont boys, without too much clothing at night,” he said. “I’m not a big pajama person. The bottom line is: The bears were dressed better than I, and they could have done some real damage.”

The governor figured his mistake — other than going outside — was leaving the birdfeeders out overnight. But the state Department of Fish and Wildlife says that won’t help, because the bears will still come around to eat the birdfeed off the ground.

The department says this time of year, when bears are prowling around, it’s best to just remove birdfeeders altogether. It’s spring, so the birds will find other food — and the bears are less likely to find you.

This American City & County Weekly Snapshot winner from June 2010 shows black bears raiding a bird feeder at the home of Asheville, N.C., Public Works Director Mark Combs.