Bearing away the bird food

Photo and comment sent the other day by Thomas Hook, New England Diary's  distinguished Southbury, Conn.-based wildlife photographer.

"Over the weekend, I spent a few hours buying fresh seed for the feeders, washing the feeders themselves and finally filling them and hanging them up yesterday afternoon. This morning, I looked out and saw the whole setup destroyed. The strong and solid steel arms that held up the feeders were  torqued off their base and in one case completely disengaged. Was the bear watching from the woods waiting for me to finish so he or she could come into the yard and have a proper meal before settling down for a long winter nap?

''Meanwhile, the bear hunter (below) looked calmly from his inside perch at the messy remains of the assault. He seemed concerned but I’m not sure why.''