I had never seen wild bears before, so how was I supposed to know that dumpster diving was not a natural foraging behavior. Their home range had clearly expanded to include Yellowstone National Park campgrounds. Why waste time hunting for small animals and gathering berries for hours to get a few handfuls, when a bear could drop by the 24 hour campground deli, and pick up all variety of delicacies. And it was all prepackaged in those nice metal lunch buckets, ready to pop open with a good twist or two.

Sometimes an eager bear might dent the lunch bucket or even leave a few teeth marks in anticipation of the goodies within. And the mess left after a meal…well there were men in funny hats to sweep the deli.