Who Here Knows about Black Bears?

I was at the dr.'s today (that's another thread) and LOML was home and found a black bear on our patio when he was going to let the dogs out. Wonderful. The older dog hung back and barked, but the younger smaller (female) dog went berserk and "chased" the bear over the fence into the neighbor's yard.

LOML was, of course, furious that our dog does not "come" when she's called. I love my dogs, but I'm sorry, bulldogs are not the brightest crayons in the box. We called the Wildlife folks who said that dogs are usually a good deterrent and they weren't too alarmed about our bear. (I think you have to get dead first).

But I remember being in central British Columbia where it was not uncommon for bears to kill small backyard dogs. So are my dogs safe or what? I'm not putting them on a leash to take them out for a pee. :bang:
 
Is there is anything in your yard to attract the bear again. Bird feeders? Dog food?? Grease in a grill??? Compost pile???? If there are any of these, the bear may be back.

Bears are constantly looking for food and once they find a source, they keep coming back for more. If your yard is "clean", it shouldn't be back, especially since your dog chased it away. It is probably a young male looking for a new home, and since all the good spots in the wild are taken by older bears, he is cruising the neighborhood.

Here are some pictures from my old stomping grounds for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.adn.com/2011/05/05/1847113/2011-bear-sightings.html
 
We have several black bears visit the back yard several times a month. They like the bird feeder.
They run away if the dogs bark or if I go outside. Besides from ripping down my feeders they are no problem unless they are protective Mom's with cubs. Best to steer clear.
The worst part of black bears is people think they are cute. They anger the Mother bear then call the police because the bear scared them. Usually the bear ends up on the losing side.
 
Is there is anything in your yard to attract the bear again. Bird feeders? Dog food?? Grease in a grill??? Compost pile???? If there are any of these, the bear may be back.....

Barry, we took down all the feeders except 2 hummingbird feeders on our deck (up a flight of outside stairs). No compost pile, no dog food. But yes, there is a big BBQ on the patio. We want to move it up onto the deck, but it's too heavy for me to move it with LOML. I guess it's getting urgent to move it, eh?
 
Your yard sounds pretty clean actually. Keep your eyes open and see if it comes back before getting a hernia moving a grill! I'm betting a neighbor or two will have much better bear chow in their yards.:rofl:
 
Blacks are dangerous Cynthia and there has already been reports of people already being attacked this year and one dog dead. With the snow pack still around the bears regular feeding grounds are not producing so they are down in our neck of the woods. barking dogs will just tick off a bear enough that they make attack. The wildlife guys say to keep them inside when bears are around.
 
Well given the length of concentration spans today i dont see to many reading that sign and if it were my NN he would not understand the first word.:rofl: Hang on thought of that could have good consequences.:D

I dunno all this talk of Bears in Canada I dont see evidence and after spending two weeks driving through Alberta and BC in late Oct one year and not spotting a single sign of bears i think the likes of Larry have them all in his house mounted.:)
 
With the snow pack still around

Snow ??? :eek:

Temp was 101 on my porch yesterday!

BTW, like deer, bears can become habituated to human presence. If it continues to be a nusiance, do call the game department to have it relocated. I would have a good pepper spray handy at all times too.
 
Frank...even here the spring runoff has been slow....the rivers are high and there is an unusual amount of snow in the high country. This past winter we had greater than normal amounts of snow followed by an incredibly cool spring.

The rafting outfitter my wife was with said the high runoff has kept customers away. The runoff has been extended by the cool spring temperatures and the higher than normal amount of snow.

We have had 3 people killed this year rafting or kayaking in the area. It appears they were all wearing life vests but got swept under log jams and drowned.
 
Barry, we took down all the feeders except 2 hummingbird feeders on our deck (up a flight of outside stairs). No compost pile, no dog food. But yes, there is a big BBQ on the patio. We want to move it up onto the deck, but it's too heavy for me to move it with LOML. I guess it's getting urgent to move it, eh?

Humming bird feeders are like soda pops to bears. They love them. From what we have experienced here they like them more than the BBQ grill. We have a huge patch of raspberries. I am not sure if that draws them in. We haven't had any bears in our patch yet. The previous owners used to put bacon grease out in the center of the drive to attract them. Some folks aren't as smart as the law allows.

The biggest hazard with dogs is that they corner the bear or the bear has cubs. Our dog wants to chase everything from chipmunks to elk. We always have deer around and he likes to chase them also. We have trained him to always come back when we call him. Our biggest fear is him tangling with a cougar. I am not sure he would win that one.

Ken sounds like he lives around this part of the country. The high for today is 77 and there is still snow on the high peaks. Lots of run off and banks are high. Lots of healthy, well fed animals running around. I can't wait for bow season this year. The elk are going to be big. Might even start putting in for the moose drawing to build up points.
 
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Bulldogs are bread to be hard headed. Kinda reminds me of some women I know. Some folks call it hard headed or stubborn. My wife calls it fortitude, unless it applies to me. Then she says it is stubborn or obsessed.
 
They part on the sign about wearing bells reminds me of a joke. How can you tell the difference between Grizzly bear and Black bear poop? The Grizzly bear poop has bells in it. :D Here in Oregon I carry a very noisey pistol in the woods, they don't like the noise and run the other way.
 
Cynthia, I would get some pepper spray. If you get the chance to use it on a bear that is acclimated to raiding porches you will be doing it a favor making the experience memorable. It won't always work to keep them away, some are stubborn just like some people. But if this bear learns that raiding homes can be painful then it might stay away.

When my wife was a young girl she was out playing in the woods by the house and was asked where she had been when she got home. Her reply was "I was playing with a nice black doggie in the woods mom." My mother-in-law went out and checked on the "black doggie" only to find a cub bear. :eek: Most black bears are shy and afraid of humans. Some need to be taught to fear humans. They can be dangerous, obviously. When there is a drought and food is scarce they can be aggressive in their search for food.

If you want to see black bears then just burn some honey in a pot in your back yard and wait a little bit. :D
 
I'm not sure moving BBQ or bird feeders up to a second story deck will help. There was a bear show on PBS a few weeks ago. The bears had no problem climbing the corner of the house to get to an upper deck. If you can put the BBQ into a closed space (garage, etc.) that would be best.

If the dogs can chase off the bear, that's a good sign. Just don't let them catch it! BB in the west usually respond well to being driven off. There are different populations of BB. Some are aggressive, some are not.
 
Bears in our area usually succumb to the front bumper of a car. Occasionally one will eat a 3rd grader :rofl: but usually that child is the slowest one in the class.

Just being facetious...I don't know much of anything about bears except one time I was out cutting firewood and a female bear with two cubs came charging out of the woods because of the noise we were making. We jumped in the truck and like all brave woodsmen went down to the local tavern to tell lies....er, I mean stories about our encounter.

Wild animals are unpredictable and the best thing to do is to stay out of their way and remove temptations that may be on your property especially slow 3rd graders.....:p
 
I have a dog named Weatherby, .308 to be exact:rofl::rofl: I really don't...but I do have some shotgun shell that have dimes loaded and another set from the mid-west called Stump Cutters. The carpet tack loads I keep to myself:rolleyes::p...Come here little bear...nice bear...BOOM!!
 
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