I don't know if this belongs here. Bear with me! I have to share this tale somewhere it might be appreciated.
We live in a rural area and raise chickens, who are very much beloved pets. Tragically, in late May, a black bear visited our home and took off with two of those beloved pets. Usually, once a bear finds a food source, it'll keep coming back until the food is gone. Having been through this a year ago, we were determined not to let even one more chicken get stolen on our watch. So for the next three nights, we stayed up all night, with loud dogs on the alert and bear spray at the ready, yelling and scaring the bear off every time it returned - and it was working.
We couldn't do this every night, though - as parents, we're used to low sleep, but (at least not since the newborn phase) not no sleep in a hypervigilant state indefinitely!
I ordered an electric fence, and desperately did some more research on what could keep our birds safe in the meantime. One recommendation I kept seeing was to play radio near the coop, since black bears are pretty conflict avoidant and won't come near human voices. Great idea, but who actually has a wireless radio in 2024?
Oh. My children have a Yoto and a Yoto mini and lately, have been sharing a room and just using the Yoto overnight. We put the mini in the coop, set it to play Ahway Island for 8 hours, nervously went to bed and... no bear. So we did it again.
The next night?
No bear.
A third night - NO BEAR!
On the fourth night, we finally got some sleep and woke up refreshed, then remembered to check the chickens. We rushed outside... no sign of bear!
We're going on three weeks now with no return visits. We sleep well, the chickens sleep well, and our girls think that the bears must be sleeping well too... far far away from here. I might have to get my daughter her own mini again though, since the chickens still have hers :)