Cleaned Up
Cleaned Up For The Love Of Bears
Protect your local bears by becoming “Cleaned Up For Bears” certified today!
Cleaned Up For the Love of Bears is designed to educate the public and encourage individual commitments in making simple changes that will reduce the probability of bears frequenting neighborhoods. Unsecured food sources, such as trash cans, pet food, or livestock feed are encouraging bears to visit backyards, increasing human- bear conflicts and bear euthanizations. By cleaning up we can each play a role in helping to ensure a peaceful coexistence with bears and to keep our neighborhoods safe.
Why is Cleaned Up For the Love of Bears Important?
Bears have been a common neighbor to humans throughout North America for thousands of years. However, expanding communities and land development has created many more situations where people are living in closer proximity to bears’ natural habitats. Most notably, there have been increasing conflicts due to unsecured food sources such as trash, beehives, livestock feed, and many other attractants that teach bears to frequent properties they should not. Bears are highly adaptable creatures and will seek out easy food sources when available. Therefore, it is our responsibility to adapt in kind to ensure peaceful coexistence.
Bears have an extremely keen sense of smell. Leaving unsecured food sources easily available invites bears into your yard or onto your property, where human-bear conflicts can occur. Ever heard the old saying “a fed bear is a dead bear”? Once a bear finds a food source, they are likely to revisit that area again, creating potentially dangerous situations for both the bear(s) and humans. Because of this, many bears who seek out human food sources are euthanized each year. This is completely preventable through education and commitment to ensure bears do not access unsecured food sources.
By committing to living “Cleaned Up For Bears” certified, and by encouraging others in your community to do the same, you can play an important role in reducing one of the biggest issues facing bears: human conflicts. Together we truly can make a difference!
Learn more about how bears find themselves getting into trouble by reading our blog: “What is Human-Bear Conflict and How Can I Help?”
Certify your Home & Property
Can bears count on you to make sure your home and property are bear-friendly?
Who Should Become Cleaned Up For the Love of Bears Certified?
Did you know that in the U.S. bears live in 48 out of the 50 states? Does this mean everyone should commit to cleaning up for bears? Not exactly, but if bears are known to spend time near your property or home then we highly encourage you to be proactive in taking steps to become truly bear-friendly. That means that you remove attractants that might invite bears - even if a bear has not yet visited your neighborhood. Bears are constantly searching for food sources and being proactive to safeguard your property will help to prevent bears from learning to associate food with humans and your efforts will help to save bears.
Please take a moment to learn about what steps you can take below to protect bears in your community by becoming Cleaned Up For Bears.
What needs to be cleaned up For the Love of Bears?
Potential food sources or attractants for bears include anything humans, pets, or livestock eat as well as anything with a strong odor. Garbage, human food, pet food, livestock feed, apiaries (beehives), kitchen grease, barbecue grills, bird seed, fruit from trees and bushes, and vegetable crops are all basic examples of items bears may seek out as a food source. It is impossible to make a fully comprehensive list of items that are potential bear attractants, so it is important to think about the items that are being stored, dumped, and placed in unsecured areas on your property (including easy to access trash cans). It is up to each of us living in bear habitats to make good choices, For the Love of Bears!
There are numerous things each person can do to ensure potential food sources are secured:
+ Trash
Bears are attracted to odors of all kinds. It is estimated that a bear's sense of smell is seven times greater than a blood hound. Human garbage smells great to a bear and is easy access to calories. Keeping bears away from trash prevents many serious problems for people and bears.
Place trash cans on the curb, only on trash day. After collection, return trash cans to your secured location. Ensure trash cans and garbage are secured throughout the week by placing them in a closed garage, locked shed, or other secure area. When possible, use certified bear-resistant trash cans at all times of year. Clean trash cans regularly to prevent them from becoming overly odorous.
+ Bird Feeders
Bird feeders are full of high-calorie food bears love, and they provide lots of energy for very little effort. Some studies show over 80% of human-bear conflicts can be traced to a bear's first encounter with a bird feeder.
It is recommended to remove bird feeders and bird feed. Instead of a bird feeder, it is encouraged to use a bird bath or water feature, plant flowers or shrubs to attract birds, or to install nesting boxes or bird houses. If you choose to feed the birds (note birdfeeders are considered feeding wildlife and illegal in many states), the best practice is to only do so during months when bears are in hibernation (typically December - March). Bear hibernation is not a guarantee as warmer temperatures or low snow years may alter the times when bears are denning. It is nearly imposible to keep bird feeders out of reach of bears. Suspending bird feeders 10 feet or higher off the ground and 10 feet away from anything a bear may climb is about the only reccomended way, and then fallen feed needs to be cleaned up daily and feeders should be removed at night. Like all attractants it is critical that bulk bird feed is stored indoors or in a certified bear resistant container.
+ Barbecue Grills
Barbecue grills are an often overlooked attractant; however, the odor from BBQ grills and grease can attract bears from great distances. Conservative estimates report that black bears can smell a food source from two miles away.
Clean the grill after each use to prevent grease build up and odors. Store grills and smokers in a closed garage, or other secured building when not in use. Do not dispose of grease in the landscape.
+ Pets and Pet Food
Pets and pet food can also attract bears when left outside.
Ensure pets are indoors at night. Store pet food indoors or in a certified bear-resistant container. It is not advised to feed pets outside.
+ Livestock, Chickens, & Apiaries
Protect your animals and property from unwanted damage by taking appropriate precautions before a conflict occurs. Conflicts between bears and Livestock, Chickens/Fowl, & Apiaries not only results in property damage or loss, but also often leads to the offending bear being relocated or euthanized.
Feed livestock inside a sturdy building and lock the building overnight. Clean up feed regularly. Installing an electric fence is an alternative option for the feeding area. Consider using a guard animal for protecting livestock.
Ensure chickens are stored inside a sturdy enclosure overnight or install an electric fence around the coop.
Install an electric fence around the hives. Bears not only eat honey, but also eat the bees, brood, larvea and can destroy the entire hive and colony.
+ Gardens, fruit trees, Compost, etc.
Extra considerations for gardens, fruit trees, compost, etc, are a must in bear country.
Planting fruit bearing plants or gardens near your home in bear-dense areas is not recommended. Harvest fruits and vegetables as quickly as possible when ripe. Pick up any fallen fruit or crop immediately. Install an electric fence around the perimeter. Some individuals have found creative solutions like fruit gleaning groups, that help quickly harvest so that excess falling fruit isn’t attracting animals
Compost inside a secured building or install an electric fence.
If you need help for any of these things please reach out, we will be adding resources to our blog and posting frequently of opportunities to help make advancements, be it step-by-step instructions or community grants and resources to install electric fences, best practices for gardening, or assistance in affording bear-resistant trash cans.
Certify your Home & Property
Can bears count on you to make sure your home and property are bear-friendly?
*There may be bear mitigation strategies already in place within your area. It is important to be aware and follow any local regulations or recommendations set by your community leaders. If you are unsure if there are bear mitigation efforts in your area ask. Be sure to check our blog regularly as we will share resources we come across to help you better understand your options to help wild bears.
Bears need us to be good stewards in our communities!
These small changes can make a great impact. By being Cleaned Up For The Love of Bears certified, you are showing your commitment to securing the future for bears while encouraging others to do the same. Bears need you now more than ever, join us today and help spread the word by talking with your friends and neighbors.