It was built to be impenetrable, from its "super rugged transparent polycarbonate housing" to its intricate double-tabbed lid that would keep campers' food in and bears' paws out.
The BearVault 500 withstood the ravages of test bears at a California zoo. It stymied mighty grizzlies in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park.
But in one corner of the Adirondacks, campers started to notice that the ever-popular BearVault was being compromised. First through circumstantial evidence, then from witness reports, it became clear that in most cases, the conqueror was a relatively tiny, extremely shy, middle-aged black bear named Yellow-Yellow.
Wildlife officials say that Yellow-Yellow, a 125-pound bear named for two yellow ear tags that help wildlife officials keep tabs on her, has managed to systematically decipher a complex locking system that confounds even some campers. In the process, she has emerged as a near-mythical creature in the High Peaks region of the northeastern Adirondacks.
"She's quite talented," said Jamie Hogan, owner of BearVault, based in San Diego. "I'm an engineer, and if one genius bear can do it, sooner or later there might be two genius bears. We're trying to work on a new design that we can hopefully test on her."
Apparently Yellow-Yellow depresses one tab with her teeth, turns the lid, uses her teeth on the second tab, and then opens it.
Ben Tabor, a state wildlife technician who has tracked Yellow-Yellow, said evidence on canisters supports that theory. He doubts, however, that she has out-of-the-ordinary intelligence. "I don't think she's smarter than most bears," he said. "I think she's had more time to learn."
Is it better for a five-legged puppy to have its fifth leg amputated, or to leave it, so the animal can be part of a freak show?
John Strong Jr., who exhibits oddities as part of a traveling sideshow, recently offered to buy a five-legged puppy from its owner in Gastonia, N.C., to make it part of his Coney Island show. Outrage ensued at what many believed to be exploitation of the puppy, and a woman in Charlotte offered to buy it for more than Strong offered -- and to pay for the amputation.
Strong argued that his animals get the best of care and that amputation was, in fact, the crueler option. "Sometimes you got to enjoy what you got. Let God's will be God's will," he said.
His argument came too late; the new owner said Thursday that the surgery was done.
Others in the sideshow business defended Strong. "Showmen use those animals for their livelihood," said John Robinson of SideshowWorld.com. "That animal is sometimes better taken care of than the showmen themselves."
NEW YORK TIMES
