A hungry bear

You've heard the saying, "when God gives you lemons, make lemonade." When God gives you a bear, don't feed it!! Seems simple enough of an idea, but unfortunately my neighbors aren't that bright.
One neighbor stopped over yesterday to warn me that there's a hungry bear lurking around our yards. They've seen it several times, it even bent over her metal pole and bird feeder yesterday morning. As she goes on to tell me, a neighbor further down has been putting out food of some kind, maybe corn- for the deer! Hello- that's illegal this time of year and thus this bear thinks the food is for him. Since we have thick woods in our back yard, we'll have to make sure the kids aren't out by themselves and even when they are with me, we'll be close to the house.
Paul is not too bothered by the fact that this bear is here. He went out to put wood in the stove last night about 11:30, before we went to bed. He heard a huge crash nearby- like a garbage can. Um, yeah, probably the bear. So I'm laying there last night, then I sit up and look out our doors in our room. A flashback from childhood hit me and I was afraid to go to sleep. When I was about 4 or 5 and we lived in a trailer in Wilson in the woods, a was sleeping on the couch because I was sick. We were having a thunderstorm. I saw a bear standing on his hind legs at our door!!! Since, I've been terrified of them. I've seen a few since then and some of their signs too. My first year hunting alone, bear pooped right next to my blind. Let's just say it was fresh. One time, Paul and I were riding the three wheeler at camp- we saw a bear. And then there's the bear that hangs out at camp too. He scratches up the siding of the camp and even with all the deterants imaginable- he comes back and does more damage. My father in law put boards with nails sticking up on the ground so he couldn't get close to the camp. That didn't even work. So once bears are liking where they are, they don't leave easily. Factor in a food source and it's even worse. The old addage that they are more scared of you than you are of them is kind of ridiculous when it comes to bears. We have a highway nearby, plus alot of traffic on our front road and this bear doesn't care. It just ticks me off. I just planted my garden- NEXT TO THE WOODS!! So now I have to worry every time I'm out there alone. When Katia waits for the bus, she'll have to wait on the porch. Paul said he'd talk to the DNR today or tomorrow about it. One of them is a customer of the dealership and he just had some work done on their vehicle. So that's what's up here in the U.P.
Oh and yeah, we're still having to make a fire cause it has been cold! The last two nights were in the low 30's. Maybe the bear could hibernate:-)