Patricia says: This was taken in my back yard. I live in Montana in an area that is seeing a lot of growth and construction and there are often conflicts with wildlife. We moved to bear proof trash containers after issues with bears getting in the trash. Efforts have been made to educate residents and visitors about not approaching or feeding wildlife, but it still happens.

I was sitting on my back deck photographing hummingbirds when I heard a rustling to my right and moved my camera slowly in that direction just in time to catch this little fellow pop up in my rock garden before he scooted off. As the summer went on there were several more viewings of him and another cinnamon colored black bear. Late in the summer I was dismayed to watch him approach me on the deck so I went in to get the bear spray for "re-training." As I went through the glass door he followed me all the way up on the deck and starting play-fighting my dog who was barking wildly and not playing.

It was obvious that he had become too comfortable with humans. I discovered that the workmen in a house under construction down the road had been feeding both bears. Just recently our local paper reported that 3 black bears in our area had to be trapped. One was euthanized and 2 were released in the back country. A 4th black bear was hit and killed by a large construction vehicle.