Remember how there was a beautiful—and huge—mountain lion killed by an SUV in Connecticut last month? And it turned out that the cat had walked all the way from South Dakota? Now it turns out the mountain lion made its way through NY State's Lake George—and that state Department of Environmental Conservation officials knew it was there but never told local officials that a 140-pound predatory cat was in their midst. Classic Albany! more ›

The BearVault canister is touted as being "bear resistant" (not to mention "grizzly & black bear-approved") but there's one bear who appears to have mastered opening the container: Yellow-Yellow, a 125-pound bear upstate. According to the NY Times, with word of her prowess spreading, "she has emerged as a near-mythical creature in the High Peaks region of the northeastern Adirondacks." Even though the BearVault has two tabs that need to be pushed in order to turn the lid, Yellow-Yellow (so-named for her two yellow tags) "apparently depresses one tab with her teeth, turns the lid, uses her teeth on the second tab, and then opens it." The Times even has a graphic! State wildlife technician Ben Tabor, who says Yellow-Yellow is shy, said, "I don’t think she’s smarter than most bears. I think she’s had more time to learn." But this means a career as a product tester—BearVault creator Jamie Hogan has a new canister model lined up: "State officials have agreed to test it by filling it with aromatic food and depositing it on Yellow-Yellow’s turf." Aw, we hope they give her a treat for all her hard work! more ›