Living In Bear Habitat

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Living With Wildlife web page, offers brochures detailing ways to avoid conflicts with black and grizzly bears.

Here are some quick tips for bear-proofing your home and managing the storage and disposal of garbage in a bear-friendly manner.

Around the Yard:

• It is best not to have bird feeders, but if you do, bird and hummingbird feeders should be hung 10 feet up and 4 feet out from a stout support such as a tree, with a rope and pulley system for refilling them.
• Do not put out salt licks, grain, or deer blocks to attract wild animals as these create areas of concentrated animal scent that will then draw in bears and mountain lions.
• Pet food should be stored indoors or in a bear-resistant container. If you must feed pets outdoors, sweep up any spilled food immediately and bring bowls in at night.
• Barbeque grills should be cleaned and stored after each use in a secure shed or garage.
• Fruit should be picked from trees when ripe and fallen fruit immediately collected. Do not allow fruit to rot on the ground. Electric fencing is the best way to protect larger orchards.
• Compost piles should be limited to grass, leaves, and garden clippings, and turn piles regularly. Adding lime can reduce smells and help decomposition. Do not add food scraps. Kitchen scraps can be composted indoors in a worm box with minimum odor and the finished compost can later be added to garden soil.
• Gardens should be harvested immediately as vegetables, fruits and herbs mature. Locate gardens away from forests and shrubs that bears may use for cover and where possible protect them with electric fencing. Blood meal used in gardens will also attract bears.
• Use native plant landscaping whenever possible. Be aware that a watered lawn with lush grass, clover and dandelions is an attractive feeding site for bears.
• Beehives, honey and bee larvae are especially attractive to bears. If you keep hives, elevate them on bear-proof platforms or protect them with electric fence.

Garbage:

• Store garbage in bear-resistant garbage cans or dumpsters, or, store food-related garbage in a secure building bears can’t get into.
• Securely store empty recyclables, such as pop cans, indoors—the sweet smells attract bears.
• Decrease odors by storing garbage in tightly tied, heavy-duty bags, and garbage cans with tight lids.
• Store especially smelly garbage, such as meat or fish scraps, in a freezer until they can be taken to a refuse site.
• Remove garbage regularly.

Other tips on being bear-friendly include:

• Talk to your children about bears and how to avoid them.
• Have a plan in case a bear comes inside your home and keep bear pepper spray handy. Give a bear that is in your home an escape route by propping all doors open with something heavy that will act as a doorstop.
• Close all windows when you are gone or when cooking.
• Never approach a bear in your yard, always give bears an escape route and never crowd or harass a bear.