Bear Bait?

The fall colors are great in the Smoky Mountains, as you can see from my new profile picture. We had a great trip to Gatlinburg last week, staying at the very top of Ski Mountain. It was "Cold"(that was with a capital "C") the first part of the week. But not cold enough for the bears to be hibernating. I first noticed paw prints on the dumpster about mid-week, then trash spilled everywhere from a dumpster a few hundred yards down the hill a day later. On Thursday night about 10:30 we were coming back up the mountain and spotted a large, shiny black bear about 200 yards from the house we were renting. He ran away before I could get the camera out for a picture. On Friday we saw a truck pulling a bear trap up the road, I am sure to move the bear to less populated area.
I wonder how many times as a young boy I looked intently into those mountains hunting a bear. We usually made a trip to Virginia each year and went through the mountains. It was exciting then just to look for bears and Indians.
Well, it was extremely exiting on Saturday before daylight when we were preparing to leave the house when I heard all kinds of clanging and banging in our dumpster about 40 yards below the house. I told Susan to get back inside, realizing how close we were and with 2 bags of stinky garbage ready to be deposited on our way out. I figured the bear would eat that first, then lick his lips as he gazed upon the fat preacher(I hear they are great bear bait). You should have seen how fast we moved getting back in the house. Then I realized that we had left the car doors open and the trunk with food inside. I shined my flashlight but couldn't see the dumpster, but I still heard noise, so I quickly went out, closed the doors and trunk, and ran back inside.
Imagine my chagrin when I looked out the door and saw a man walking up the hill who had just deposited his trash. How dumb could I be? But I did feel somewhat justified as we drove away and got about 100 yards down the hill, when we saw where the bear had been in yet another dumpster. Yes, thar's bears in them thar hills.