Bird feeders are often a strong attractant to bears especially in the fall when they are trying to fatten up before entering their dens. Please consider not feeding birds until the bears have entered dens which usually happens by the end of November. Other attractants also create conflicts with bears.
Montana FWP Bear and Lion Specialist Erik Wenum says ”We are urging people to step up their efforts in getting attractants secured; lock up the garbage, put the pet foods inside and pick the fruit. It’s unfortunate when we have to kill a bear. It’s not something we enjoy doing, but when a bear is fed human foods that is typically the outcome. If residents take responsibility and clean up all attractants, we will have fewer problems and fewer bears will need to be killed.”
You may contact Erik Wenum at 756-1776 or 250-0062 for more information or to report a bear in your neighborhood.
[…] Get the bird feeders cleaned out and ready to put up! (But wait until bears have denned up before putting them up!) […]