Op-Ed: Let's encourage bears to eat what's theirs
June 4, 2024 | By Andy Phelan There has been an uptick in reports of our black bears across Vermont getting into trash that people have left out and entering cars and homes in search of food.
Just last month, game wardens shot and killed a bear in Underhill after it became aggressive in encounters with humans.
It is prime season for our bears to put on the weight essential for cub survival and for bears to build up the reserves needed this winter. Black bears are an "umbrella" species, meaning that efforts to protect them and their habitats in turn protect numerous other wildlife species. As their habitats get fragmented, there will be increasing contacts. There is much we can do to prevent this from being a problem. Unless cornered, provoked, or protecting cubs, they are peaceful and want nothing more than to be left alone to forage.
Black bears are omnivores whose diets consist – often 90% or more – of plants, berries, nuts, and insects. Some of these foods will be abundant this year, some not so much.
Our bears forage often for many miles to find what is available. They have remarkable noses for food smells and remarkable memories for where they found food in the past. Their survival depends on this. They remember where they found plants in wetlands, insects in stumps and decaying trees, berries, beach nuts, acorns, and other foods in our woods.
This is great – we want them to remember these sources and learn to rely on them.
We do not want our bears to learn human sources of food. We do not want them to find – and so return – to our own trash, our home, our car, or those of our neighbors. They will return, however, if they associate these with food. Too often, our bears find rich foods in our feeders, trash, compost, barbecue grills, pet bowls, and in our cars and trucks. They learn to associate these with food needed to survive.
When this happens, the result is often damage and mess – to our doors, windows, feeders, cars, trash. That's bad. It's annoying. It's expensive.
Worse, it is often deadly for our bears. Those who become acclimated to human food must often be shot. We know the adage, “A fed bear is a dead bear.”
Unfortunately, it is too often true. This is not their fault. Nor is it deliberate on our part. Careless perhaps, but not usually deliberate. It results from too-easy access to our food. Often because we just do not realize the temptations we create.
In addition to having good memories and noses, black bears are intelligent and strong. They can manipulate unlocked handles on homes and car doors. They can force windows left open even just a crack. Trash cans don't cut it; only bear-proof containers keep them out.
So, let's be good neighbors – to our neighbors human and ursine: let's encourage our bears to only eat what's theirs by taking a few precautions every day toward that end.
Secure homes: Close/lock doors and first-floor windows in homes, garages, sheds.
Cars and trucks: Keep them clean and locked. Even food wrappers can attract bears. And yes, bears can open unlocked doors and tailgates.
Trash and compost: Use bear-proof bins or eliminate bins outside by using a service that will pick up from your garage. If unavailable, put these outside for collection for the shortest time possible.
Grills and outdoor food: Clean food residues from outdoor tables; brush and burn grills; discard the energy-rich drip pans beneath your grill. Feed pets inside.
Birdfeeders down, April 1 - Nov. 30: Many who enjoy attracting birds with feeders do not realize that their energy content makes them bear magnets when bears are active. Seed or nectar in one large feeder can hold over 10,000 calories.
Chickens and bees: If you keep/raise these, visit the VT Fish & Wildlife website for information on inexpensive and effective electric fence protections.
Pass it on: Share what you learn. Let friends, visitors, and neighbors know how they can help protect our bears. Visit the resources linked below and send others there.
Report any problem incidents with bears at the first link below. Department staff will assist you. Great resources for living with bears are a few keyboard taps away:
The “Living With Black Bears” page on the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
More useful information from the Mad River Valley Bear Initiative.
Finally, Ben Kilham, renowned New England black bear expert, runs his (far too busy) orphaned bear cub rehab center in New Hampshire, where he takes in cubs from all over New England, including Vermont. Check out his site here.
Fayston resident Andy Phelan is a lawyer who took an interest in black bears after learning that it was legal for a mother bear with cubs to be shot near his home. Phelan filed a petition in 2023 with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife aiming to change that law.