"someone's been eating my porridge!"

 From the kitchen window, I noticed the feeders were thrown around the yard.  Earlier when I let Max out on the porch, I put the gate back up to hold her in until the sun comes up.  There was no wind in the night so I couldn't figure out how the gate was knocked down.  It's possible the bear wandered up onto the porch, too.  When Maxine goes out in the morning, she always sniffs everything to see what's visited her porch in the night.  Usually, it's just a neighborhood cat that sleeps in one of the chairs or walks across the table.  I see clay paw prints some mornings on the cushions or on the table.  But this morning she hesitated at the door with her nose up in the air and cautiously approached the outside. 

 The bear had to have climbed the tree to rip this squirrel-proof feeder right off the wrought-iron extension. The extension was pulled away from the tree and is hanging at an angle. The bear emptied the feeder, then rudely left it in the driveway.

 The plastic seed holder was ripped away from the base so it could be emptied.

Then the bear moved on and drank most of the water.  I had just cleaned and filled this last night.

Right now we have the doors and windows opened and Max is laying on the mat at the kitchen door watching three young deer eat fresh green leaves.