Bear visit last night

Jokarva · #1 04/09/12, 11:00 AM

We had our first bear visit last night. DH and I were watching tv when he said (pretty calmly)...'there's a bear on the deck'.

Sure enough there was a bear (about 250 lbs we guess) snooping around the birdfeeder. We banged on the glass doors and yelled at him, but he wasn't much impressed and just went about his business.

He came and went for a while, then he came nose to nose with a young possum roaming the front yard. The possum hissed and the bear walked away....and the possum just kept roaming. The bear stayed in the yard/drive till DH fired the shotgun behind him (not at him)...that got him moving.

So this morning I heard from the neighbors that he took down birdfeeders all over the mountain. DH refilled our birdfeeder and put it back up today, he says we'll just take it down at night. I think we should take it down period. What do you guys think? Any tips (besides the obvious 'remove the food') for keeping bears away?

soulsurvivor · #2 04/09/12, 11:05 AM

I wish there was a way to instill fear of humans into the bear population. Looking at bears on the deck cannot be a good thing.

ninny · #3 04/09/12, 11:10 AM

You mean you didn't do the neighborly thing and invite him in???

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copperkid3 · #4 04/09/12, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninny

You mean you didn't do the neighborly thing and invite him in???.

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that they are particularly fond of porridge........

LisaInN.Idaho · #5 04/09/12, 11:34 AM

Keeping bird feeders in bear country is never a good idea.

blynn · #6 04/09/12, 12:31 PM

Well he was probably trying to get that morel mushroom you found!

The bears are going to smell that bird seed day or night, and now that the bear knows food can be found on that deck, it may come back. I'd take the feeders down for good.

Danaus29 · #7 04/09/12, 12:47 PM

This time of year the birds don't really need the food. Remove the feeders for the spring and summer and hopefully by late fall the bear will have forgotten all about your feeders.

Bear are not nocturnal. They can be active any time of day or night. That's why it's not a good idea to leave the feeders out during the day. Imagine what it would be like if you were outside and turned around to see the bear on your deck!

They'll drink out of hummingbird feeders too.

ninny · #8 04/09/12, 12:48 PM

I also hear that bear hides make pretty rugs, bear meat is good to eat and some of their internal organs go for a really high price on the Asian markets...Just saying...

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LisaInN.Idaho · #9 04/09/12, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninny

I also hear that bear hides make pretty rugs, bear meat is good to eat and some of their internal organs go for a really high price on the Asian markets...Just saying...

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I also hear that bear poaching can come with prison time. Just sayin...

painterswife · #10 04/09/12, 02:20 PM

Take it down!

Bears very easily become habituated to food sources. He will be making the same rounds for weeks until he is sure nothing will be there.

ninny · #11 04/09/12, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

I also hear that bear poaching can come with prison time. Just sayin...

Hey, if he's in your living room it's self defense...

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chickenista · #12 04/09/12, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

Keeping bird feeders in bear country is never a good idea.

This pretty much sums it up.
Welcome to NC.
Bears are EVERYWHERE!!
Usually they don't start trouble, but if they get used to coming around eventually... and then bad, bad things happen to the bear.

I don't keep feeders up because they draw in Sharp Shinned Hawks.
They are bird hawks and they get used to eating in my yard and then snack on chicks and poults.
Haven't seen a one since I took down my feeders.

LisaInN.Idaho · #13 04/09/12, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickenista

This pretty much sums it up.
Welcome to NC.
Bears are EVERYWHERE!!
Usually they don't start trouble, but if they get used to coming around eventually... and then bad, bad things happen to the bear.

I don't keep feeders up because they draw in Sharp Shinned Hawks.
They are bird hawks and they get used to eating in my yard and then snack on chicks and poults.
Haven't seen a one since I took down my feeders.

Yup, we had a young grizzly pass through our place a few years ago who eventually had to be shot by Fish & Game because he was raiding bird feeders and a couple of photographers were baiting bears in. Sad end for the bear. He didn't bother a thing here but we did get his picture.

Jokarva · #14 04/09/12, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blynn

Well he was probably trying to get that morel mushroom you found!

The bears are going to smell that bird seed day or night, and now that the bear knows food can be found on that deck, it may come back. I'd take the feeders down for good.

LOL! Too late, that mushroom is gone! And, boy was it good...all two bites of it.

I took the feeders down and swept and hosed the deck, he'll likely be back but at least he won't find any food here. So, we'll see...

chickenista · #15 04/09/12, 05:54 PM

Your house is on his 'route'.
So you will probably see him again.
To be safe and damage free and to protect the bear you need to be extra cautious about trash, food, dog food, poultry etc..
And be extra vigilante in the autumn when he is stocking up and in early spring when he is ravenous!

jwal10 · #16 04/09/12, 06:48 PM

We have to have locking garbage cans here. Once they get used to tipping cans over they have to be shot, they never go back to the wild....James

julieq · #17 04/09/12, 09:33 PM

A bear on our back porch would be a carcass the next morning and we'd wait until our local sheriff had his breakfast to call him. We don't have bird feeders and we have a big dumpster for trash.

He would have had to go through two runs of hot wire fence around our horse pasture, past our german shepherd AND our rottie cross and would end up being about 20 feet from the corner of our nigerian dwarf doe pen if he were on our back porch. Any bear ending up there would have to be insane and would be treated as such!

nebula5 · #18 04/10/12, 07:54 AM

We took our feeders down after a bear helped himself to the birdseed on the front porch several years ago. We have not seen him since. We only put feeders out after the bears would be hibernating now (Late Dec- Early March) although this winter was so warm we didn't the feeders out at all.

ronbre · #19 04/10/12, 10:44 AM

bear love to remove bird feeders and garbage can covers..but if you lock the garbage in the garage and remove the bird feeders at night or leave them empty at night, they'll leave you alone and go to the neighbors...sometimes they'll hassle a compost pile ..apple tree...berry patch..also

LisaInN.Idaho · #20 04/10/12, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronbre

bear love to remove bird feeders and garbage can covers..but if you lock the garbage in the garage and remove the bird feeders at night or leave them empty at night, they'll leave you alone and go to the neighbors...sometimes they'll hassle a compost pile ..apple tree...berry patch..also

Like someone said previously, bears are active during the day as well as night. Best to take down the feeders altogether while bears are active.