Shoot the bear. Borrow some neighbor kids. Have them come over after you kill the bear, and pretend it wandered into the yard while they were playing and you were forced to kill it. Send me a roast for the tip.

Get the strongest electric fence you can find and use it to block their entry to your property.

That looks pretty residential. You should contact the city, a 300-400lb bear without fear of humans is extremely dangerous. (I actually agree with tdave8666, but I figure if you're releasing squirrels you don't.)
This bear has learned you have food and it will be back, if it's hungry enough an electric fence may not stop it, and at that size humans are table fare.

The way the branch is peeled it's an invitation to disease. I would try to clean it up. You could graft to keep the McIntosh.
There are others more experienced at that who can help you.

Electric fence is the most effective way to go. I wonder why more gardeners would not try electric fences. It is easier than you think and it cost about $200-S300 and one day's job for DIY's. Just spent some time to read literatures on electric fence and walk around your yard, then draw up a good fence system (ground, post, gates, underground lines etc.). I put up a fence recently and it work so well that I would urge every serious gardener to consider this instead of fighting a loosing battle or using guns.

Unfortunately I don't own a gun.
I have 2 & 5 year old kids, so an electric fence is not an option (my wife would NEVER go for this).
I personally don't have a problem exterminating the bear, but my wife does. I live on 3/4 of an acre with neighbors on all sides, so gunfire would definitely be a problem.

The town won't do anything to the bear. There has been about 400 nuisance bear reports this year (up from 250 total all of last calendar year).

I wouldn't say the bear has no fear of humans, as he only comes late at night (as far as we know except for the one sighting by my neighbor). I forgot to take in the trash can about 2 weeks ago. When I went outside to see what was going on the bear walked away.

If your municipality won't do anything, I'd be talking with state game & wildlife authorities. Yesterday.

2 and 5 year old kids are old enough to be taught and understand what an electric fence is, and to avoid it. And, if they don't take home the verbal message, one touch will teach them the lesson. A properly-installed electric fence, with a modern high-voltage/low amperage energizer is not an 'electrocution' hazard - but packs a whopping 'pain potential'.
If I couldn't count on my children to avoid an electric fence, I sure wouldn't be allowing them outside to play in a yard frequented by bears - alone or with supervision. Your wife will likely have a hard time fending off an attacking bear without some significant firepower.

In a recent similar discussion on the NAFEX list, one of the respondents indicated that his 25-yr-old neighbor had thought the bears in his yard were 'cute' - and that there were pictures of the black bear that ate him, in his camera.
Too many people have gotten their impression of wildlife as caring, thoughtful creatures which only want to coexist in harmony from Disney,Inc.

"I have 2 & 5 year old kids, so an electric fence is not an option"

"I wouldn't say the bear has no fear of humans, as he only comes late at night (as far as we know except for the one sighting by my neighbor)."

Then turn on your electric fence only at night! People still resist elecgric fence because they don't fully understand how does it work, thus some groundless fear.

An electric fence around your kids is not an option but a 400lb bear is?

You could have your wife go out and reason with it.
Maybe your next wife will be a little more realistic about large bears around humans and let you put up the electric fence.

Ok. I think the electric fence is the only way to go.
I will do a search on the internet.
I may forgo the fence this year since all of the apples are gone and the peaches will be ripe in about 1 week.
That will give me time to research and convince my wife.
If it is not too complicated and the wife agrees I will install it asap so as to keep future visits and resulting damage at a minimum.
Thank you for the input.

raiderrick,

i too have to go along with the electric fence crowd. thats the only thing i've heard of that works.

theres not much they can't go up and over or thru if they want your fruit.

bears aren't like deer/moose that will browse your trees,they only come when fruit is hanging. and as a further note in my experience they leave them alone until they start taking on a stronger aroma closer to maturity.

as such u would only need to put your fence up in those last stages of fruit ripening. regarding your children, when they are out in the yard simply unplug your fence. short of that the only thing i can reccommend would be to place a lounge chair under the tree with a nice warm blanket, keep it occupied and when that ol' bar shows up...leap up and scare the living daylights out of him. repeat as needed.

i had one kill a full size standard tree climbing up into and jumping up and down in it to knock the apples to the ground. i surmise he broke the roots.

in regards to your moth/butterfly i've saw those back east before, i think their neat and almost an anomaly of nature.

good luck,
wildlifeman

Around here, bears that invade human property are trapped and transported. If they continue to come around, they're put down. (And we like our wildlife. That's why we give them a chance to peacefully go elsewhere.)

Wild bears and human young -- not a good mix.

Sorry Raider, I just couldn't resist:

The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

Aw come on. I figured to get at least a chuckle saying to have your wife reason with it and maybe the next wife would allow the fence.

Just to be sure you realize, we're talking about a real electric fence like is used for livestock. They won't kill or injure anything but the pride of whatever touches it.

I wouldn't worry about the kids and the electric fence. It only takes once to learn not to touch it. And if they pee on it that's like a rite of passage for country folk. If they manage to do that it won't be long before they're inviting their friends over to con them into peeing on the fence.

This looks like a good article about electric fences and bears with recommendations on what you need and what to do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bear fence

I also heard that squirrels help chase bears away.

raiderrick,

to prove how harmless electric fences are to your wife, take her on a little ride out to the country and find one setup. tell if she holds your hand you'll touch the fence just to verify if what your fellow gardenwebbers have told you happen to be true.

afterwards, just tell her u didn't feel a thing and that she owes u big time for the slap on the face.

regards,
wildlifeman

Bears happen. Here in Montana black bears do wander into our town (well, small city) and cause a lot of problems in orchards and dumpsters. Fish and Game or Wildlife and Parks will humanely deal with them pretty quickly. Usually they dart them and relocate them, sometimes trap. They almost never find it necessary to kill them.

I've taken to carrying pepper spray when I'm in the mountains now (as much for wolves and cougar as for bear) and you might consider it. This is a pint aerosol that goes off with a very loud bang and sends a cloud of capsaicin. It has been known to turn charging grizzlies, which is a good trick. One experience with it will convince Black Bear to seek friendlier neighborhoods. Expect to pay forty or fifty bucks for a can. Local bear expert Jamie Jonkel says it will, in fact, deter 9 of 10 grizzlies .... There's no warranty for the tenth bear.

You'd have to lay in wait for your bruin, so it may not be practical. I can imagine trying to convince my wife that I needed to sit up and stare at my trees until daybreak!

Good luck. We all sympathise.

:-)M

Linked below is the Premier fence site - they're one of the top sources for all things electric fence. I buy all of my fencing materials and equipment from them except for the 4000 ft spools of 12.5 ga high tensile wire that I use for cattle fencing(I get it locally at the farm store - shipping would eat me alive if I got it mail-order). They're nice folks, and their customer service folks will be glad to discuss options and make recommendations that might work best for you.

Other potential sources to investigate are Kencove and Gallagher - both have internet websites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Premier Fence

myk1 - I did indeed get a hardy laugh out of the "next wife" line.
Ditto for the post by tdave8666!

Thank you all for the great links and advice.

The bear came back last night and left 5 peach pits on the ground under the peach tree. I sprayed the area with Dr. Bonner's peppermint soap in hopes the bear didn't like peppermint. That didn't work.
We picked about 3 dozen peaches last night and they are currently in brown paper bags (hopefully ripening). We picked all of the peaches that were high on the tree to hopefully avoid having any branches ripped off of the tree, by the bear, in an effort to reach the peaches.

Thank you again. Everyone on this site is wonderful. I have learned so much!

Totally agree with tdave8666!

I have had problems with rabbits, possums, porkypines, racoons, deer, and bears. The only thing that works is elimination. Nothing else works with any reliability. I have tried them all. My victor no. 2 traps and remington rifle work everytime. It is a constant battle though.

"The only thing that works is elimination."
"It is a constant battle though."
Hmmmmm......Makes you wonder doesn't it.
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"Maybe your next wife will ... let you put up the electric fence."
LOL. I'm gonna try to remember that one for just the right opportunity. (-:

New Matchmaker International question:
Do you believe it's OK to use an electric fence to ward off deadly creatures: __yes __no