That was a fast response, Georgiansilver; very neat to think of that song.

I read through Bobert's thread on Livin' with Black Bears, and nobody there came up with the advice of using zucchini as a defence. He could have saved himself a lot of worry by just planting rows of ground squash!

Most encounters with bears follow the pattern of this traditional verse:

Algernon and the Bear

Algy saw a bear,
The bear saw Algy.
The bear was bulgy;
The bulge was Algy.

However if the Montana woman's discovery is to be trusted perhaps we should now use this guidance:-

If you meet a bear (genus Ursus),
It's no good shouting threats or curses;
Don't forget
To use a courgette,
Or you may come off much the worsest.

Matthew