Prevent Conflicts With Hungry Bears This Spring

As black bears start to emerge from hibernation, Fish and Wildlife officials are reminding you to avoid possible conflicts with animals looking for an easy meal.  Rich Beausoleil with WDFW said the top three attractants for bears, are garbage, fruit trees and bird feeders.  He told the Washington Ag Network, if you clean up your property and secure your trash, you wont be a target for bears.

In the event they do land in your yard, Beausoleil said you need to scare the bears off your property.  The best way to do that, he says is by making noise with a few frying pans.

"And then secure that attractant, bring it inside or put it in a locked shed or in the garage and try to avoid that repeat performance because once they’ve established that this is a constant and predictable food supply they are going to come back.”

Beausoleil said whenever a bear, or other large animal wonders on to your property, contact your local fish and game office.

“Because you could call on Maple Street, and then right behind you someone could have called on Walnut Street, and we’re able to put those on a map, together and say, ‘boy that’s four or five visits here in the past couple of weeks, so we better make a site visit’.”

To avoid conflicts, Beausoleil recommends that people take the following steps to guard against attracting black bears to their homes.

• Never intentionally feed bears or other wild animals.
• Keep garbage cans in a garage or another secure area until collection day.
• Remove pet food from areas accessible to wildlife.
• Thoroughly clean barbecue grills after each use.
• Take down seed and hummingbird feeders until winter.
• Clean up fallen fruit.
• When camping, thoroughly clean all cooking utensils after use and seal uneaten food in airtight containers that are stored in bear-proof canisters away from sleeping areas.

"By following these steps, people can prevent most problems with bears,” said Mike Hobbs, deputy chief of WDFW’s Law Enforcement Program. “Our officers respond to hundreds of situations involving bears every year, and most are due to these attractants.”

Two state laws prohibit leaving food or food waste in places where it can attract bears and other wild carnivores. Unintentionally or “negligently” feeding bears can bring a fine of $87, while the fine for intentional feeding can be as much as $1,000.

Listen to our conversation with  Beausoleil:

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (590) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com