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

The biggest issue is fungus gnats. Tiny black flies that love to live indoors or out and infest every single plant even if its in a pot. They are smaller than fruit flies. Outdoors, I use a form of Bt and also benefical nematodes as I used to get a LOT of these fungus gnats, they even get inside the leaf layers of brussles sprouts, which are not good eating when you see tiny back flies in the cooking water. Indoors, when I start seeds, I use a mix of seed starting soils, like Natural Beginnings from Gardens Alive, as well as a Jiffy mix that is sold by the bag through sevral web sites, and even shreaded coconut husk fibers called coir. These are all quite 'clean' and have little to no real soil in them. They help hold just the right amount of moisture too. The fungus gnats usually come from outdoor soils, lay eggs in the soil that turn into tiny maggots and these feed off the tender roots of any plants. Thats one reason you see house plants suddenly dieing for no apparent reason. To check indoor plants, I use yellow sticky traps that rest horizontally on the edges of the pots. After just a couple of days, these traps can become loaded with tiny black gnats! Outside is where I use a form of Bt and also water in the beneficial nematodes that live in soil and go after the fungus maggots. My garden soil here isn't perfect, but if I can reduce harmful bugs from killing plants, its a big help. I use scent lures and sticky traps for my apples, peaches, and even cucumbers. Each sticky trap has a scent lure that attracts the pests common to these plants. Some plants and trees are highly resistant to diseases and bugs. Asian pears, asparagus, and blueberries to name a few. It may be better to head to a nursery/garden shop, as Home Depot and Lowes tend to offer a very limited amount of organic supplies. Here, we have only a very few products that are organic and most are for bugs (Neem) and disease control (Serende). The bags of soil offered by Miracle Grow tend to be a bit harsh as they simply use chemical equivilents to the real soil nutrients. I have a small leanto shed that stores corn gluten, fish meal, humate, kelp meal, and a few others. I use these as natural nitrogen additives, or in the case of humate, many minerals and micro nutrients. If you do plan to spray for any bugs that might be feeding on the leaves, try Neem. I wouldnt spray any herbs with anything unless the bugs are chewing holes in the leaves however. Bt, is a liquid mixed with water and has several different strains, of which one is for the gnat control. Ever hear of squash vine borers? These bugs bore into the base of squash vines and destroy the insides which cause the plants to quickly die. I have used another form of Bt and actually injected it into the main stems of squash plants, by using an insulin syringe. The Bt attacks the borers and kills them. Imagine a garden thats a living thing like us, it just can't survive all by itself if you want good yields and quality crops. I have only 2000 sq. feet of garden space, and there is also areas all around the edges of my garden that have fruit trees, or some permanent plants like asparagus and horse radish, which I harvest every spring. For your pot of cilantro, add some seeds every 2-3 weeks, so they can give you more than 1 or 2 harvests. Only thing is, if they are clumped together, they are hard to seperate if there are two stages of growth within each other. Indoors, I start about 60 petunia plants, 60 or so impatien plants, peppers, tomatos, basil, and a few others about mid April. This year, seedless watermelons with a necessary pollinator, as well as a few cantaloupe types. Brussels sprouts again too, but will be covered with a light weight white plastic fabric to block out the bugs, then my big batch of corn, which I plant every other year. I have a small tractor and a big rototiller to turn the soil over every spring, and work in any soil ammendments needed. Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Beginnings

I have to come clean...my first reaction was "good for that bear!" Then I realized that I don't REALLY want to see people get gored, chewed or clawed by anything, even though it may be a case like this where the person was the one dealing out the initial injury. But what do you expect any animal to do when you are attempting to kill it?? Kinda like the fact that quite a few rattlesnake bites occur when someone is trying to KILL THEM. I agree with Jillmcm in that certain kinds of hunting really seem pointless. Cougar hunting and bear hunting come to mind immediately. Although I know years ago we had a certain neighbor who went bear hunting somewhere up north every year, and the years he was successful he had a huge barbecue. Of course the years he didn't get his bear he would have to cook a goat instead, but at least he planned to eat 'his' bear nonetheless. And no, I never went--heard either meat is really realy greasy.

Speaking as someone who's been through the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of remodeling: I'd definitely demand an itemized quote and a written contract,specifying everything that is to be done and establishing a delivery as well as payment schedule. You pay as the work gets done (or each phase of it). Not before. In most states the law allows the contractor to charge up to 1/3 upfront, for material and payroll, so it would be very difficult to get more than that from me, without explaining and itemizing. I'd get quotes for more than one contractor before signing up for anything. Ask neighbors, friends and coworkers for referrals. Check all the bidders for compliance with state certification, licenses, insurance etc...(Most official state websites allow you to check contractors over the internet - go to your local government site and search for words like contractor or consumer protection) Ask the contractors for references and actually check them. Check the local BBB chapter to see if there is any complaints filed against that company and try to find out how many years they've been in business. Most home improvement companies go out of business in about 5 years. So if the company is in business longer than that, chances are they know how to conduct business and will be there for many years still to honor the warranty they give you on their services. The services you are contracting, depending of the finishing materials, fixtures, embellishments and appliances used, might be well worth the $96K. I also found out that the "cheap" can cost you more down the road. Unreasonably low quotes, might be a sign that the contractor is either about to deliver a lousy job or has no intention to deliver it at all. However, no one would be able to get 96K out me, without a very, beyond reasonable doubt good reason.