The game commission can't relocate every bear that spends time around people.A few years ago,I had a similar problem as you,minus the bird feeders.We had at least 9 different bears coming in,some of which were obiously habituated with humans.They destroyed my Mckenzie target and hammered our garbage every time we put it out.The garbage was a challenge because they picked it up anywhere from 1:00 am to 6:00 am.Therefore,we had no choice but to put it out at night.After a few weeks of this,I put some ammonia in a balloon and taped the ballon to a garbage can with syrup on it.The bear popped the ballon,got a facefull of ammomia and never came back

 

i bet if you shoot the bear they will take action lets just hope the bear dont hurt no 1 before they trap it out

 

The amonia sounds like a great idea, know it keeps cats away.

 

make your own trap and then call the game commission and tell them you got a bear in it, then see how fast they take some action.

 

DCE, thanks for the ammonia idea. I will give that a try this week.
With the bear startig to cme into the yard during the daylight I am worried one of the kids will end up between the bear and where he wants to be.

 

I seriously wouldn't worry about it.I've been between bears and where they wanted to be lots of times and never had one go through me yet.The bear is associating humans with food.He'll find a new food source soon and be gone.

 

The pgc recommends using a lawn rake to ward it off. My buddy had one coming in, I threw a quarter stick at it, he never came back again. I like that ammonia idea, I'll have to pass that one on.

 

Ammonia worked for me too. I had bears carrying my bags of garbage into the woods every garbage night. I poured a little ammonia in the bags before I twisted on the ties and then put a couple dimples on the top of the bags and filled them with ammonia. Problem solved.

 

If you pour some in a ballon and blow it up,they'll get a face full of mist,kinda like getting a shot of pepper spray.Works like a charm.

 

Until your neighbors start taking in bird feeders and garbage the bear will keep returning for a free meal. Put out the baloons with ammonia in them smear peanut butter on the baloon. Call and ask to speak with your WCO.

 

Not sure where to post this question...I have been having a bear coming into the yard for about 2 months now. He has been knocking down my bird feeders and destroying garbage cans. I now keep my trash in the garage and bring my bird feeders in at night but he is still coming. I noticed he has been destroying the neighbors garbage cans when put out for pickup. He is coming through every 2-3 nights now. Last night he knocked over the my bird feeder post and there was not any feeder on it

I guess he is angry I have been taking them in at night. Well last Weds night he came into the yard right before dark...8 PM. The neighbors children were playing outside and making a pile of noise, their dogs were barking...the bear didnt care. I opened the front door and began yelling and making a huge commotion...the bear just layed down and was looking right at the house. I am worried that he is going to come in before dak when my daughter and the neighbors children could be playing outside. I called the game commission and was told to keep everything in at night and the bear would eventually move on...which I have been doing for about 6 weeks...the bear is still coming through though. My question is what has to happen before the game commission takes any action?

Bears don’t know the difference between bird feeders and bear feeders so as long as there are bird feeders or even birdseed on the ground the bear will keep coming in to feed.

Bears have also learned that by living closer to people they can find better food supplies. After all it is a lot easier to tear up garbage bags and eat ten pounds of food scraps than it is to rip up a stump to get couple grubs.

The bear is really not a threat to the kids or anyone else of the neighborhood unless it would be an infant wearing a dirty diaper. Infants should never be left unattended for even an instant in bear country.

Eliminate the food supply and the bear problem will move on all by its self. As long as the food supply is there the WCO is only wasting his time moving the bear. If there is a food supply there will always be a bear to feed on it.

We have bears in my neighborhood of town pretty much every night and no one gets excited or upset about it because they learned how to live in harmony with the bears years ago. People still walk their dogs and the kids still play outside. It isn’t uncommon for someone to end up with a bear treed in their yard before or after dark as people continue to move about. When that happens everyone just knows to leave it alone and it will come down and leave.

What is different here though is that everyone in the area already knows to stop feeding the birds once the winter snows end and that once a bear starts coming in they need to use some ammonia in their garbage cans and bags.

As long as no one is try to feed the bear or trying to take food away from the bear it is very unlikely anyone is going to get hurt. Just do all you can to clean up the food supply and there is not likely to be a problem.

Dick Bodenhorn

 

The bear was about 25 ys from my front porch. I opened my front door and began yelling at the bear to go away. He just layed down and continued looking my direction. He did not run away, or climb a tree. His non-reaction to my presence is very concerning to me and my childrens safety.
I guess from what RSB is saying is that I should be completely comfortable w/ my daughter playing outside and that if she is playing right off the front porch and is between where the bird feeders were and where the bear is all will be well...I still find this troubling. He is coming into the yard during daylight hours.

 

One morning I woke up ro 5 different bears in my garbage and 4 on my neighbors.When I went down to chase them off,4 reluctantly left and one laid down just like you said.I threw rocks,kicked gravel at him and he showed me no respect.A car pulled up and the bear was laying down between the two of us.That guy was also talking about the 5 bears him and his kids had been hand feeding from their deck.The bear showed no agression what so ever but I agree,a bear with no fear of people is a problem bear and should be removed.

 

Along with the people who hand feed them.

 

Agreed.

 

As I have said many times before once a bear has claimed a food source it is his. Don’t challenge him for it. But you and your kids can still be outside as long as you don’t make the bear think you are challenging him for his food.

If a bear feels you are too close he will pop his teeth, shuffle or stomp his feet and stand his hair up. If a bear does that then just back off so he knows you aren’t trying to threaten him and all will be fine.

Just give him his space and everything will be fine other than they can make a mess with the garbage. The real answer is to clean up the food supply and the problem will not exist. Until the food supply is solved no one can guarantee you are not going to have a bear near or even on your porch, no matter how many they might come and trap or even kill. The ENTIRE problem is the food problem and not a bear problem. Solve the REAL problem by removing the food supply if you want to feel safer.

Dick Bodenhorn

 

I cant understand the big craze of bird feeders especially if you live in bear country. I had 3 customers last year with this problem all with bird feeders and there main goal was how they could make there bird feeder bear proof. I think it would be more simple to elimate bird feeders seems like bird seed is bear bait.

 

The feeders and garbage cans have been taken out of the equation for more than 6 weeks now...and the bear is still coming through every 2-3 evenings. I can easily understand about not challenging the bear and what not, but do you actally think a toddler and a 6 year old will understand...which is why a bear coming that close to my house w/ young children around makes me nervous. Maybe some think I am crazy to be nervous about this, but nervous I am. I am going to try the ammonia/ballon trick tonight. I hope it deters him from coming around.

 

In many cases,people have an irrational fear of bears.I don't think you anything to worry about but your concerns aren't irrational either.Nothing wrong with being cautious.You may have taken the necessary steps to discourage the bear from returning but chances are someone is still feeding him.If not,he probably wouldn't be associating humans with food.

 

I had one hammer me again last night. Knocked down the pole that the bird feeder was removed from since late February. Ripped apart a PGC style roosting box, that nothing ever roosted in. Took a garbage can out into the woods before "brushhogging" the contents.

Still beats living any where else.

Oh! I tried the balloon trick. They learn to avoid and ignore it. Kind of like me with flavored coffee.

 

The feeders and garbage cans have been taken out of the equation for more than 6 weeks now...and the bear is still coming through every 2-3 evenings. I can easily understand about not challenging the bear and what not, but do you actally think a toddler and a 6 year old will understand...which is why a bear coming that close to my house w/ young children around makes me nervous. Maybe some think I am crazy to be nervous about this, but nervous I am. I am going to try the ammonia/ballon trick tonight. I hope it deters him from coming around.

If you have an infant in diapers do not let that infant unattended outside for even an instant. The bear has no interest in the infant but would take the diaper if he got a chance and the infant would probably get hurt in that process.

The only people I worry about around bears are infants in dirty diapers, people feeding bears or those that challenge a bear on food.

But, those dirty diapers might very well be the reason the bear is still coming around. If there is a dirty diaper within a quarter mile, including inside your house, the bear will know it. Bears love dirty diapers. If they are in your garbage can it is very likely that the bear will continue to come in for them.

Did you call the Game Commission Office with your concerns?

Dick Bodenhorn

 

Get some firecrackers and the next time the bear shows up light them and toss them out into your yard...He may stay away for a while...

 

Very interesting, could it be that Nugent was actually baiting bears and not avoiding the draft?

 

No more dirty diapers...thankfully. I did call the Franklin Office...and a lets just say the helpful officer referred me to a "pdf about bears" on their website. He was not interested in hearing that there were kids playing outside less than 75 yards from the bear, during daylight hours and the bear just layed down when I tried to make a commotion to get it to leave. I had already done what the info in the pdf suggested...remove all food and garbage cans. I do hope the ballon trick works.

 

Get some firecrackers and the next time the bear shows up light them and toss them out into your yard...He may stay away for a while...

This does work for a little while.
I had one destroy my deck railing and he is a giant. I live in an area where the release alot of bears that they trap. It's bad enough to deal with one nuisance bear, but try 4 or 5. 99 percent of the time they don't do any destruction. But this big boy tore the railing off my porch like it was nothing. So I popped him with a 12 guage super sock (bean bag) round in his rear and it did the trick. I see him once in awhile and he keeps his distance.