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Bear in my yard

3K views 38 replies 27 participants last post by  Watcher556 
#1 ·
So, went out the front door for a smoke, and there it was. Cute little cub and momma digging in the trash can.

1. I think I finally found a reason to quit smoking.
2. Never walking out the front door at night unarmed again.
3. 9mm feels suddenly inadequate.
4. How do I keep them out of the trash can?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

V/R
TXsurvivor sends.
 
#2 ·
You need bear proof cans. They seal so the bears can't smell the garbage.

Where I live, we have bears wondering around all the time at night. There is a $150 fine for anyone caught leaving garbage out over night.

Black bears are usually non aggressive and will run off if you make any noise. They WILL get your blood pumping when you walk out to find one on the porch.....lol! Ask me how I know....

And I keep a .50 cal. rifle loaded by the door all the time.
 
#3 ·
Avoidance is best, especially with a Mama. Don't shoot at one unless you can drop it, especially a ticked off Mom. But the problem afterwards is the game warden won't take kindly to you hunting, so I wouldn't drop one unless it's attacking a member of your family or your personal livestock. Black bears around here will wander away from you if you just stay calm. I've been pretty close to them, 12-50 feet away and they didn't have an issue with me. After they started ripping my chicken coop apart to fish for chickens I started taking more precautions, but I have never had a time where I really was in fear for my life or anything. It's just a little freaky to be up close and personal to them.

I don't go outside at night without my dog, Jake, and a high powered flashlight. Jake will tell me in one sniff if the coast is clear and the flashlight makes me feel better.

Don't put any trash, anywhere outside. None. Keep it locked up in the house and give them zero reasons to come back. She is also teaching her cub to hang out at your house in the process.
 
#5 ·
On the trash issue:
Lanlord pays for trash, so I get to wait until Mo day to ask what to do about that. In the mean time, trip to the hardware store tomorrow for some chains and a lock for the trash/recycle bin.

The good news:
Wife agrees to the requisition of a 12 gauge (can't believe I don't already have one!) and a .45 for when I have to move gear out of the car at night after a gig!
 
#10 ·
I'm also with the dog suggestion.

I always take my Rott outside after dark with me.
She smells any critters on the property long before I would ever see them,
even with a high powered flashlight.

I am armed but I also know that she would be the first line of defense if something happened.

Most critters are pretty timid and will choose to run if they can but if you even accidentally corner a ****, skunk or a possum they will fight.

I would rather know where they are before I stumble into them.

.
 
#11 ·
we get that a lot

I live in the middle of nowhere next to a national forrest we get that a bit. Spray some ammonia or bleach around and on your garbage. The smell of that will repel them. If that doesnt work I will send you some of my wife's cooking after having that the bears will keep clear of your house(though that could be constued as animal cruelty).
 
#12 ·
We get black bears in my neighborhood a couple of times a year since there is a nature preserve adjacent to my community. We keep the garbage cans tightly sealed in the garage year round, but they still roam around. Usually the bears are just as startled to see you as you are them, but one did attack a dog (German Shepherd) this year that was chasing it. The dog almost died, so keep your dogs leashed and don't let them go after a bear. Bears will defend themselves and the dog will most likely lose the fight.
 
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#15 ·
I like how they say -- "Tested By Bears" --- do they get a "pick-a-nick" basket after work ?

They tell me - in up-state NY - they install in-ground sprinkler systems for the lawn's - with panic buttons near the doors --- bear at the door / garbage ---- give Boo-Boo a bath ----
 
#16 ·
Some of this stuff has already been mentioned.
  • Dogs.
  • Fencing.
  • Air horns and whistles.
  • Bear proof trash cans.
  • Bear pepper spray.
  • There's a product called 'Bear be Gone' that resembles a trash can and when they mess with it they get a shot of pepper spray to the face deterring them from jacking with trash cans.
  • Shotgun loaded with slugs or 000 Buck.
 
#17 ·
Throw a cat outside. The cat will run and they will chace it. JK

I hit a bear while driving home one night. I was going super slow and barely bumped him. Though I did knock him a little off balance and he looked up at me in shock. I was freaked out that he was going to attack me, but then a cat ran across the road and he ran after it. lol

PS

Btw...the cat wasn't hurt. He lived a few houses down from me and was seen a couple days later.
 
#20 ·
I used to work in a small Police Department in the Pocono Mountains. Every year when the bears come out of hibernation we had to put flyers out to all the homeowners that advised them to please use the metal trash cans with the spring closure hold downs and to please put a cap full of Ammonia on the trash. Apparently the Ammonia acts as a successful deterrent for bears.
 
#21 ·
If you are going to use that new gun on a bear, make sure to check your local laws. When we moved here, we were told clearly that if we ever shot one of the local bears to make darn sure to grab his paw afterwards and rake our face bad because otherwise we'd get a trip to the clink. There's stand your ground and so forth for humans, but a bear you gotta run from.
 
#23 ·
Again, no intention whatsoever of actually shooting a bear. Only want to be able to defend myself and my family adequately and humanely should the need arrise.

Chaining up the trash can, and using ammonia seemed to do the trick. Can was knocked over, but not opened up. Thanks for all the suggestions here. I appreciate the wealth of knowledge this forum offers!
 
#24 ·
Shoot it. It considers your property part of its territory. You want that encounter to be on your terms, in daylight, with loaded weapons of your choosing. Not some night you're unloading the car where it has the element of surprise. Although a black bear is the least likely (Polar = Brown > Grizzly > Black) to initiate a predatory attack against a human - they are, after all, the smallest of the bears - they are certainly capable of it. Black bears attack and kill a handful of people in North America every year.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_predation_jordan.html

"Are we sensationalizing the terror of bears in the backcountry? Ask the families of Timothy Treadwell, Amy Huegenard, Glenda Ann Bradley, Kathy Huffman, and Rich Huffman. The common denominator of their existence: they have all been eaten by predatory bears in the past few years.

California wilderness parks make for good case studies of controversial bear management practices. The storage of food in so-called bear-proof containers (while the hiker is encouraged to sit back 50 yards or more and be patient) trains bears to be persistent and further habituated to the odors of human food. YOSE officials believe that keeping your distance will result in a lack of human habituation - an interesting notion considering that the scent of a human - and its food - dominates a bear canister and its hiding location. Through generations of so called "no-reward" training (somewhat of a fallacy, in light of the fact that all food storage systems have been known to fail at some level), our bear canisters may unknowingly be contributing to the habituation of bears to human presence. When bears are no longer threatened by humans - or their food storage devices - the risk of predation may increase. Are YOSE and SEKI time bombs for bear predation? California bears already recognize cars and coolers as food sources. An increasing number of reports suggest that backcountry bears know darn well what's in food canisters. Is it simply a matter of time before a shift in the fragile ecological balance of California's wilderness results in a dramatic food shortage that sends bears searching for humans...as food? If bear predation can occur in GSMNP, it can certainly occur in California."
 
#26 ·
Reason number 2 I won't preemptively shoot the bear: I live within city limits with a fairly liberal slant to it. I'm almost certain the bear has more rights than I have finances to handle litigation. We'll do this the hippy way, and keep my head on a swivel and my powder dry just in case.
 
#30 ·
Not one mentioned hot pepper sauce. I agree with the ammonia but make sure it is strong. (Like ones that makes you want to run away from it.)
Hot pepper sauce one lick I bet would make the bear think twice about staying around.
Motion controlled air blast cans also come to mind as well but might make a brown stain from the trash man trying to collect your trash if it is done by hand in your area.
Saw this device in some crazy guy who psycho analyse cats. Cat walks up to the can the can blast air the cat jumps. It might work as a spook factor but you never get the dog to look at you the same if he takes an interest in it.
 
#32 ·
A half ounce of Dave's Insanity habanero sauce in a squirt ketchup bottle full of industrial strength ammonia works wonders. On bear, raccoons, and banger ***holes. Don't spray anything you don't want to kill, and wash yer hands before you touch yer ****. . I keep it outside the back door...
 
#33 ·
Why 9mm feel inadequate? Did the bear have a bigger side arm than you?

There are tons of ways to keep the bears out of your garbage, if they are there its because they are hungry or humans have taken over more of the land they roamed before. So learn to live with them, we did for centuries before. I figure its not a Grizzly you saw, so some loud banging will scare them off, or bear spray which is still to me best way to deal with them.

Why live in the wild if your scared of the wild.:rolleyes:
Any reason to quite smoking is a good reason, lung cancer is still probably the best reason.
 
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