That's cute MO. I always wondered why the dumpsters tend to be left open around the Raleigh area, and this could be a reason why. One evening I had a bunch of trash to throw away, so I drove to a nearby row of retail stores, including a restaurant. I stopped at a set of Dempster dumpsters and was getting ready to dump my trash in one of them. I heard a rustle inside, and thinking it was one or more raccoons. As I was looking in one door, I saw a huge shape making its way out the other door. It was a black bear and it just waddled away toward more dumpsters about 35 meters away. The bear are all over the place down here and they must practically live in the thousands of dumpsters around the Raleigh area. I've never seen so many different animals in my life, and a lot of them don't even bother to hide. The two live coywolves I've seen hide right out in the open.

I agree completely! Once upon a time I worked for a scout camp in the northwoods of Wisconsin, and we had bear who would visit the dumpsters behind the dining hall. They were smart, mamma bear trained her cubs to go there for food because it was a reliable source during the summer months when natural food sources were few. We even tried chaining the lids down, but bears (being smart) turned their attention to what was in the kitchen and started tearing off siding. We left the dumpsters open.

We called the Bald Eagle up there a dumpster duck, but I don't seem to remember giving the bears a nickname.

Wanna see more, go here: https://www.google.com/search?q=Bears+in+the+dumpster+images&client=opera&hs=9jK&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAprCA5sPWAhWpwVQKHVYrBLEQsAQIJw&biw=1600&bih=771#imgrc=_ Bears-in-t...c3a953.jpg

Just because bears rummage garbage for food doesn’t mean it is what is best for them. And felling forests to build homes for people does reduce healthy habitat for wildlife. Your understanding of the entire complex subject of human impact on the wild is obviously quite limited. It would behoove you and everyone you spout off ignorantly too and the animals you negatively impact as a result if you would acknowledge that you don’t know what you don’t know and put some effort into educating yourself. We humans need to: generate zero biodegradable/recyclable trash and manage the garbage we do produce so animals cannot access it. It is called being smart, compassionate and assuming our responsibilities as the supposedly smartest beings on the planet. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is destructive.

We're about as beneficial to them as the plague is to any overpopulated species. Our junk food isn't healthy for them, hunters love to kill them for sport, and they get hit in the roadways. They're populations can never really thrive, since if they show up in large groups, people get scared and call for culls. We're best at making things extinct.

I used to camp at Assateague Island, and the ponies there would raid a cooler faster than a raccoon any day. We were packing up to leave once, and as I put an item into the back of the Jeep, one of the ponies would pull it back out. Once one found a 2 liter of Coke I was able to pack in peace because they were occupied trying to open it. I had to get a ranger to come get the soda away as I didn't want to get bit and certainly didn't want one of then to choke on the cap.

Because many species go extinct because of loss of habitat, and those who don't often become pests that need to be exterminated. Raccoons carry rabies and eat and kill cats and dogs, they infest houses. Coyotes kill dogs, and have, in a few cases, attacked people. Bears are dangerous--wandering around a dump is not a good alternative to habitat.