LETTER: Repeating important info on deterring bears from our yards

July 31, 2024

To the Community: 

In this file photo by Laura Vilalta, a young black bear in Stowe is outside a shed where trash is stored.

It's that time of year — a bear just crossed my yard, again. I hope collectively we can take the proper steps to keep these beautiful animals safe. Sharing from a previous Front Porch Forum post (thank you Gretchen King for all this info):

As stated by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, a fed bear is a dead bear. We all can take affordable steps to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Our Vermont bears are beautiful creatures and we can coexist.

The following is a summary from Fish and Wildlife referenced in the Waterbury Roundabout with specific composting in bear country recommendations.

According to Vermont Fish and Wildlife, bears can smell bird seed 1-2 miles away, so imagine the food smells sitting in your garbage can.

Steps you can take on any budget:

1. Take down bird feeders between mid-March and December. For birding enthusiasts, plant native plants to attract birds and pollinators.

2. AT A MINIMUM: Eliminate food scraps in your trash until pick-up. To do this, for the meat products you cannot compost in your backyard composter, or if you decide you are not going to comply with mandatory composting in any shape or form, you can place your food scraps in a 5-gallon container with a snap lid. No leaking or smell. On garbage day, simply dump the food scraps into a garbage bag and seal it up tightly. Supposedly there are bear-resistant garbage bags that when properly tied off, reduce the smell enough that the bears can't detect the food scraps as well.

Composting

1. Comprehensive composting: Complete food scrap composting, including meat, bones, dairy and fat is possible. There are home pick-up services that accept all greens, meat, bones and fat as well as backyard digesters that accept animal products. These tend to cost around $12/month for a monthly 5-gallon pick up to as high as $32/month for a weekly 10-gallon pick up with a yearly subscription. Two pick-up services available in our area are No Waste Compost which serves Waterbury/Duxbury and
Transform Vermont Compost Connection serving all of Washington County.

2. Routine Green Composting: Vermont law bans the disposal of food scraps in trash that is taken to the landfill. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has information online on Composting in Bear Territory. In summary, you will need a bear-resistant composter and two to three times as many browns as greens to reduce smells and speed up the composting process. No meat products. The Mad River Resource Management Alliance (Waterbury is a member) offers composting workshops annually. A video recording from one in 2020 is posted on YouTube. One type of container that allows for complete composting of animal products is the Green Cone Solar Waste Digester. 

3. Tip for deterring bears from your compost: Place an ammonia-soaked rag next to the composting site: Deter bears by soaking a rag in ammonia and leaving the rag in a plastic bucket next to your compost system. Bears' sensitive noses will be repelled by the ammonia smell, and they will stay away. Replace every 2–3 weeks. If you are managing your pile with browns and turning it regularly, and you have left the ammonia-soaked rag nearby, bears will not be interested.

Garbage storage solutions

1. Request a bear-resistant dumpster from your trash hauler. This was mentioned in an article, but not ideal if local trash haulers offer this service or at what cost.

2. Bear-resistant garbage containers and structures: Store food-free garbage in bear-resistant containers or structures. There are a number of bear-resistant garbage cans with airtight screw on lids for around $90-140. Bearicuda.com is one brand.

3. Put your trash cans out on the morning of pick up, not the night before.

Other tips

1. Use electric fences to keep chickens and honey bees safe
2. Clean grills after each use and store securely
3. Never feed animals outside
4. Work with neighbors and community to inform and educate

Amanda McKay 

Waterbury