Vandals kept moving the dumpsters behind a Colorado Springs restaurant and rifling through the trash, so the owners set up surveillance cameras to catch the culprits. The vandals turned out to be a bear pushing the trash containers around and pawing through them. The restaurant decided to drive the bear away using boards spiked with nails.

It does sound mean, but is a lot better than the alternative. If the bear returns, wildlife officials will have to capture and euthanize it. That might be an unfair punishment for just seeking a little bit of German takeout, but bears going through trash and concluding that humans are a great source of food is dangerous for everyone involved.

Fortunately, the dumpster vandal seems to be less clever than the average bear, and took off after setting a paw on the spike strip. Sorry about that, bear.

Bear Returns To Dumpster, Deterred By ‘Negative Reinforcement’ [CBS Denver]

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