You can never tell. Lots of city folk aren't too knowledgeable about country livin'.
Unfortunately our development uses a satellite system for garbage pickup and my house is apparently on the route between the dumpsters and where the bears live. We've had them in my small yard several times. My little dog treed a young one once, and had an older one (probably the same dude) standing on his hind legs against a tree a year later when he was a LOT bigger. Ever hear a bear hiss? I was on the back porch, not 20 feet from the tree with my pistol pointed at him when that was happening. Glad my dog got some sense and ran back in the house. I only had 8 bullets loaded up...
Since ours is a resort community, lot of renters use the dumpster and can't read signs telling them to lock up the dumpsters after use. Some of them just toss their bags on top like it's supposed to magically disappear through the steel top. Its a nuisance attraction for bears, raccoons, etc. I'm constantly picking up wind-blown trash.
Once I went to toss my trash in there on an early Monday morning, about an hour before the truck was to make its scheduled collection. There was a large family of coons that had gorged themselves on pizza boxes and the like. I slid the partially closed door fully open to find a dozen pairs of eyes staring back at me. Looked like the morning after a frat party. Knowing that the truck was on its way to compact the little critters, I left the door open and used a large stick to pound on the side of the container. My rudeness forced them out, one by one, and into the woods. It was funny to see them waddle away, each one giving me a resentful look.
