Same here, I hear them in the woods near the house carrying on. I have listened to them get a stray or lost dog by itself, you hear the dog barking and then in a few minutes the pack attacks and you hear the blood curdling howls of agony at being torn apart and the packs yaps and then dead silence.
Bears are increasing in my area and we have been careful about our garbage and putting it out on trash day that morning only, otherwise kept in garage. I have had to run two out of my yard on occasions, once trying to get in garbage and once trying to tangle with my dog. Shotgun blast into the ground and removing garbage did the trick.
My mother-in-law, my only neighbor about 150 yrds. from my house has a pool and a pool house and the bears have tried to get inside it a few times. Once she forgot to put her garbage in the garage and they tore the screen door down and went through it and then tried to bite through the fridge in the house. They wouldn’t go through the door to the room where the pool chemicals were stored, smell must have repelled them.
I bought a Walmart hand pump sprayer like half quart or so and put half water and half Walmart Louisiana Hot Sauce and hang it over the can grab bar. I usually spray the can inside and around the top once or twice a week.
I haven’t had any bear tip overs since I started.