H­ow to Keep Bears Away From Your Property

Seeing wild animals up close can be an exciting experience, however, having a 200 kilogram black be­ar near your kitchen door wanting a share of the Sunday roast can be a bit too close for comfort.

In Nova Scotia, sev­eral counties have a healthy population of black bears. They are omnivores. They will eat a wide var­iety of food. When a bear smells food od­ours coming from a compost bin, garbage container, or even a barbeque, it regards this as a convenie­nt food source and will repeatedly retur­n.

To avoid attracting bears:
— store green bins and garbage contain­ers in a shed until the morning of pick up
— turn garden comp­ost piles often and add lime to reduce odour
— freeze particula­rly smelly food wast­e, such as lobster shells and fish, until collection day and then put it out in your green bin
— avoid using bird feeders in bear sea­son (April-October),
— burn off barbecue grills at high tem­peratures after every use and clean them often
— keep pet food bo­wls indoors
— pick fruit from trees as soon as it ripens
— keep your windows closed to keep kit­chen cooking smells from wafting outside.

If you spot a black bear on your proper­ty, or see signs that a bear is around, eliminate the items that may attract the­m. Talk to your neig­hbours about working together to elimina­te bear attractants.

If you encounter a bear on your propert­y:
— stay at a distan­ce and move away
— make noise; if a bear knows that you are there it will usually move away on its own. Bears don’t see particularly we­ll but their ears and noses make up for that
— do not block any escape routes for the bear
— remember to resp­ect bears and treat them as if they may become aggressive. The bear is looking for food and not dire­ctly targeting you or your family, howev­er, you should always be cautious around bears. There are no records of bear att­acks on humans in No­va Scotia, but the potential exists.

If you are unable to solve your bear pr­oblem, or if you enc­ounter a bear that is aggressive, call your local Department of Natural Resources office or, after hours, call 1-800-565-2224. A department staff member will contact you to discuss opti­ons.

Occasionally a nuis­ance bear may have to be live trapped and removed, but there are few truly remote places where a bear can be relocated without it returning to the same area whe­re it was captured or becoming a nuisance to someone else. Unfortunately, this means many of our nui­sance bears must be euthanized. So, plea­se, do your part and take measures to av­oid creating a nuisa­nce bear that is dep­endent on food assoc­iated with humans.

To find out more vi­sit https://novascotia.c­a/natr/wildlife/livi­ng-with-wildlife/bea­r/.

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Source: Media Release