Bird Feeder Friends
Any recommendations about how to feed the birds and not the bears?
We have land near Asheville that we'll be building on someday. I've heard the tales from locals of bears boldly going after birdfeeders or anything that's food-like for that matter. Had a run in last time I was up there with a mama black bear and her 2 cubs knocking over the trash can where I was staying. Cubs scooted when I told them to, then mama walked around the corner with a bag of trash in her mouth, barely acknowledging my presence and continue to rummage through and lick the garbage bag til she was done. She snorted at me once when I told her to scoot and I opted for discretion (they can move FAST). You don't want to attract bears to your home (or campsite), but I will want to feed birds when we're living there, so I'm hoping someone's got some suggestions that will let me continue bird feeding while not bear feeding.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bird Landlord on -
I suggest a bearcrow. It's a lot like a scarecrow, only for bears.
Ok that's a lie, but I had you going for a second admit it!
No bears out my way, but if I come across anything I'll be sure to let you know!
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Permalink Reply by Lisa K. Walraven on -
As you know, Miranda, we live up on a gravel road into the mountains in Swannanoa. All around us tales of bears getting the bird feeders ( and trash, for that matter ) are told by neighbors, but so far our luck has held out. We have only had one encounter where a mammal got into the yankee droll feeder hanging off of our deck. I think it was a raccoon that dropped the feeder 20 ' onto the ground, cracking the plastic tray that sits underneath the cylinder part of the feeder. I am told to always bring your bird feeders ( and trash! ) IN at night so that bears are not tempted. I suppose they couldget into the feeders during the day, but perhaps that is less likely?
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Permalink Reply by Danaburger on -
Are you planning to feed the birds year round? Many organizations recommend putting out bird feeders during the winter months when black bears are hibernating in their dens instead of out searching for food. Typically they emerge around march and at that time spring has not fully kicked in yet and their natural food sources are not readily available, which is prime time for them to wander near homes that have bird feeders. So you may want to suspend your feeding at this time so bears don't find your feeder and consider it to be an easy nutritional source. I've heard many people stop feeding at this time and don't start again until early summer. Like lisa suggests, you can take your feeder in at night. However, something of importance is to clean up any residual seed around the feeder because this will attract bears as well. It is said that you can cover up the scent of the seed with ammonia. To make the seed in your feeder less taste appealing, you can add cayenne pepper. The drawback is the bear will have to knock the feeder down first before it figures out what's inside is not very palatable, so a bear that is new to the area won't know to avoid the feeder.
Supposedly the American Bear Association has a design for a bearproof bird feeder. Not sure how well it stands up to its name. You can find the instructions for it here http://www.americanbear.org/Bearproof%20feeder%20design.htm
Hopefully this was helpful!
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Permalink Reply by Miranda Paymer on -
I like the idea of a bearcrow (-; Maybe some sort of combination that would keep both bear and deer away? Hey, folks, here's a invention opportunity!
That American Bear Association link is great! Will be very helpful for more than birdfeeding. That bearproof feeder at the ABA site mimics instruction for campers about how to keep their food out of bears reach, so I'm guessing it probably does work - but the residual feed would still be a consideration, so..... Thanks for the heads up about the residual feed - if it attracts squirrels here, it certainly would draw the bears.
I'm not sure if Western North Carolina bears actually hibernate. It doesn't get that cold or snowy there and there's still some food sources (the S.E. is one of the places those Yankee birds go to winter (-; ). We will be getting a couple of dogs once we move there; neighbors say the dog presence and scent discourage the bears from bothering with you and they'll find less 'unfriendly' accommodations. That'll be fine as long as our little spot doesn't get excessive development, pushing the bears to throw caution to the wind for a meal.
Lisa, I'm amazed you haven't had bear visits in Swannanoa. Maybe the stairs to the back deck and smell of dog keep them from wanting to mess with it? Yay, Sydney, doing her job - keep them bears at bay!
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Permalink Reply by Lisa K. Walraven on
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Hey M:
I spoke with a mammal expert (bears and coyotes, specifically) with USFWS and she said that the bear in our area (western north carolina mountains) do and do not hibernate. It depends upon the winter, and the bear. We have had several sightings and pictures taken with the trail camera of bear around the property in the two years we have been here. Perhaps they lurk cautiously, knowing there is a dog in the vicinity... Recently, it has been coyote hanging out in the yard-we got a nice pic of him/her--too skinny!
Miranda Paymer said:I like the idea of a bearcrow (-; Maybe some sort of combination that would keep both bear and deer away? Hey, folks, here's a invention opportunity!
That American Bear Association link is great! Will be very helpful for more than birdfeeding. That bearproof feeder at the ABA site mimics instruction for campers about how to keep their food out of bears reach, so I'm guessing it probably does work - but the residual feed would still be a consideration, so..... Thanks for the heads up about the residual feed - if it attracts squirrels here, it certainly would draw the bears.
I'm not sure if Western North Carolina bears actually hibernate. It doesn't get that cold or snowy there and there's still some food sources (the S.E. is one of the places those Yankee birds go to winter (-; ). We will be getting a couple of dogs once we move there; neighbors say the dog presence and scent discourage the bears from bothering with you and they'll find less 'unfriendly' accommodations. That'll be fine as long as our little spot doesn't get excessive development, pushing the bears to throw caution to the wind for a meal.
Lisa, I'm amazed you haven't had bear visits in Swannanoa. Maybe the stairs to the back deck and smell of dog keep them from wanting to mess with it? Yay, Sydney, doing her job - keep them bears at bay!
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