Managing Bear Attractants   

Bears are most often attracted to residential neighbourhoods by food odours. Once a bear has located a good food source, it will remember the location and return. Bears can communicate the location and that it is ‘safe’ to feed, to other bears through their scat and scent trails.

Bears in pursuit of an easy meal may damage property, or in rare cases, cause injury to people and pets. It is important for EVERYONE in bear country to follow precautions and encourage their neighbours to do so as well.

When wildlife managers called to deal with a ‘problem’ black bear, the animal is very often destroyed.

You can help keep people, pets and bears safe, by vigilantly managing your attractants.

Bear Attractants around your Home  

Compost food items, they should not be in the garbage. Rinsing containers before throwing them in the trash or recycling bin will help reduce odours. Bears have an incredible sense of smell; the more pungent your garbage is, the more attractive it is to bears and the further away they can smell it.

TIP: Separate and freeze your smelly garbage from the rest, so that you are not affronted by the smell every time you discard something. Have infants? Use a Diaper Genie. This way, you can keep your trash in the house till morning of pickup or even longer! Making less garbage in the first place is best for bears, the environment and your pocketbook!

GARBAGE 

• Rinse and drain smelly or wet containers and freeze odourous items until the day of collection. 

• Keep garbage and recycling bins clean with vinegar, bleach and water or original Pinesol

• Store garbage and recycling in an enclosed garage, bear resistant enclosure, or inside your home until collection day. Place them on the curb no earlier than 0700 am the day of pick-up. Bring them in as soon as possible after they’ve been emptied. Never leave your garbage out overnight!

• If you have to store garbage bins in an open garage, secure them to a stationery object with a locking chain. Spray the bin and surrounding area with household bleach and water or Pinesol. Avoid Lemon Scented Pinesol; use Original Pine scent only. Bears are highly attracted to sweet, fruity, and citrus odours; using lemon-scented cleaners will actually draw bears in rather than deterring them. Bears love ant larvae. Ants are full of formic acid and smell like lemon. (Citronella, a lemon scented bug repellant, is also not recommended in bear country.)

• Consider purchasing a bear proof garbage bin or MAKE YOUR GARBAGE BIN BEAR RESISTANT. Secure the bin to a solid structure or a tree so bears can’t knock it over or roll it away and “work” it.

• Or CONSTRUCT A BEAR RESISTANT ENCLOSURE.

• To rent our motion alarm device click HERE
  

recyclables

• Rinse recyclables well before placing in bin.

BIRD FEEDERS 

• Bird seed, an easily accessible and rich source of calories, is a major bear attractant. It’s best to avoid them altogether, but limiting their use to winter months and or intermittent plate feeding is preferable to traditional bird feeders. 

• Hummingbird feeders also attract bears. Instead, plant a hummingbird and butterfly friendly garden.

• Plant bird friendly gardens and/or install birdbaths, sand baths or houses.

pet food

• Never leave pet food outside. If you feed pets outside, bring bowls inside once they are finished.

barbeques

• Clean the grease trap and burn off your grill at high heat for 10 minutes after each use. Store BBQ covered, out of the wind and in a secure area. 

  
  

COMPOST 

Recycling food and other organic waste into compost provides a range of environmental benefits, including improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling nutrients, and mitigating the impact of droughts.

• Never add meat, fish, oils, fat, eggshells or cooked food, cereals or grains

• Turn regularly to oxygenate and use equal amounts of green (kitchen scraps and lawn clippings) to brown (dried leaves, grasses).

• It can be challenging to compost properly in bear country, but it can be done. Ideally it should be secured inside electric fencing.

• There are also many indoor composters available on the market.

LIVESTOCK AND FEED 

• Keep animal feed secure inside a bear proof enclosure or building. 

• Shelter chickens and other livestock inside at night. Protect chicken coup and outdoor area from predators with electric fencing. 

• Protect your livestock animals with a properly installed electric fence.

• Keep young animals close to your house. 
  

FRUIT TREES AND BERRIES 

• Pick your fruit daily as it ripens or ripen indoors. Pick fallen fruit daily and do not allow it to accumulate.

• If you need help picking fruit, contact a local fruit picking/sharing organization, like the One Straw Society on the lower Sunshine Coast, or Skookum Gleaners in the qathet region. Or search for local interest on Social Media.

• If you do not use your fruit or berries, or have too much to share with your friends and neighbours, consider replacing them with a native non-fruit bearing variety. 

If you witness repeat attractant issues, wild animals being fed, or dogs running loose in your neighbourhood, we recommend you follow this escalation process to address concerns: Contact SCRD and info please click HERE

Encourage the Conservation Officer Service to give out Dangerous Wildlife Protection Orders and fines: Lower Sunshine Coast CO: SGT Dean Miller: 604-989-0591 Dean.L.Miller@gov.bc.ca Or call the RAPP hotline (toll-free in B.C.):  1-877-952-7277 (1-877-952-RAPP)

Encourage the CO Service to use use NON-LETHAL AVERSIVE CONDITIONING methods to deter bears from properties.