Vintage photograph of the "Lunch Counter for Bears" once a nightly event featured at Yellowstone National Park. (Photo from National Park Service)
July is National Picnic Month and before you visit your favorite picnic tables in the park you might be interested in one of the strangest picnic rituals ever held in the US - the "Lunch Counter for Bears."
Back in the 1900s, before trash removal was a regular service, many campgrounds would dispose of their trash by feeding it to their hirsute neighbors - bears.
Bears are you may know, are omnivores. That means they can eat pretty much everything. And there was always plenty to eat in the garbage dumps.
These are very smart creatures. Once they find a source of food, they'll store it away in their memory and return for more. That's why the bear dumps were