Bears Repeating

BEARS REPEATING!

by Cary Ellis

Last week a hungry bear got into the trash in our garage looking for a meal, spread it around the yard, and then opened the freezer containing bones and meat for our dogs and I’m sure made off with a package of frozen elk meat, leaving the freezer door open in his/her wake. The bear was tall enough to leave “handprints” along the top of our 1960 Land Rover (over my head). Needless to say this was no baby bear!

By the next night we had nailed up the broken out windows in our circa 1960’s garage, repaired the doors so they could close, used several straps to bearproof the freezer and removed the trash. We felt pretty good about our belated bearproofing until about 3 a.m. when the dog said, “woof!” at the noise of a squeaking garage door; and I nervously woke my sweetie saying, “hey, I think I hear a bear in the garage!”

Lights went on and I nervously headed for the garage behind my sweetie. By the time we arrived the bear had vacated and left a hole in our garage door 6’ x 6’. All we could say was, “wow!” We hopped in the truck and roared down to the barn, shining lights across the field and making noise – just to help the bear realize he’d better high tail it out of there.

Early morning phone calls to the neighbors brought back a reply that they would work on bear-proofing, with one call back that the bear had already raided sweet feed in a barn up the road. We’re up Cemetery Rd. getting pretty close to thousands of acres of National Forest. I like knowing the critters are OUT THERE, but I don’t necessarily like knowing they are in my garage.

All this prompted a call to the Wildlife people (Durango office) and I was sorely reprimanded by a young lady telling me it was our fault and we should have been better prepared, ie: garage door closed, sealed containers, etc. After all I’m pretty much a wilderness girl, and I wouldn’t go to sleep in my tent with food in it, now would I?

Later that evening our local Wildlife agent was kind enough to call me back and spend about an hour of his time sharing hard-earned wisdom from 20 years of chasing bears and mountain lions around this countryside. So perhaps his efforts will go beyond just me, and to make our neighborhoods safer for all of us AND THE BEARS – I’ll share a few of his key points here. It is really up to all of us to live preventively, so that the bears don’t find “convenience food” in our back yards, and they stay where they belong, in the wilds. They are the ones likely to lose their lives if they become too much of a nuisance, and I think it’s a very sad commentary and really primarily our faults when this happens.

First of all – last fall was lean for them due to spring frosts and drought. Lack of food in the wild brought them into our neighborhoods in search of food. I know on our street trash cans were repeatedly knocked over and one neighbor even had a bear in his house! So when those bears came out of hibernation this spring what was the first thing that came to their minds? “I remember where I had a meal last fall!” And they returned to our neighborhoods even though there is enough food in the wild right now, which includes some roots, winterkill and soon young elk and deer.

Key things we can do to live in a way to discourage bears to come near our homes or neighborhoods (thus keeping their lives more natural and preventing unnecessary contact/destruction). Our Wildlife agent says the more uncomfortable you can make them when they show up, the better, and if they’ve found a meal once, they’re bound to come back; though it takes a little effort, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

1. TRASH: Two of the trash removal companies in town have bear proof containers. One doesn’t. Try and obtain a trash removal service that will be bear proof. If yours isn’t, keep it locked up in a secure location such as a shed until just before pickup.

2. LIVESTOCK FEED: Keep in 50 gallon drum with lid that cranks down/ keep in enclosed area.

3. MOTION LIGHT: Using a double-socket motion light fixture, put a bulb in one side, and a plug in the other with a radio that will come on if there is motion in your yard of barnyard.

4. ELECTRIC FENCING: around areas you would like to keep the bears out of

5. AMMONIA: in a trash can is a deterrent, and ammonia water balloons scattered around an area will help deter them.

6. PEPPER SPRAY – in the large size can may be a good thing to have around – but be carful with use – and have a backup plan.

7. Outdoor refrigerator or freezer: lash closed in several places, as with one lashing a bear can actually bend the door to try to open it.

Bears are smart. When destruction has been reported in an area repeatedly the Colorado Division of Wildlife will catch and tag them. If there is a second occurrence, the bear will likely be euthanized. I would like to think that it is our responsibility as much as possible to prevent this by wisely taking precautions that keep the bears from finding a meal in our yard.

This is just one of the complexities of wilderness being our back yard, and I’d rather love the bears from a healthy distance! It takes all of us working together though, to keep them from thinking our neighborhoods are an easy place to refuel.