Photo by BearSmart.com
Black bears in Canada may still be celebrating summer with the rest of us, but pretty soon the shortening days will encourage them to find extra calories and prepare for winter.
While this natural behaviour occurs, humans can play a big part in helping keep black bears safe by managing attractants and understanding our impact on bears. Here’s five ways you can help black bears as summer ends:
1 Manage fruits and vegetables. Whether a wild tree or a cultivated edible garden, ripened fruits and vegetables are alluring to black bears and other wildlife. Harvest ripe fruit, pick up fallen fruits, and work with local groups to distribute healthy foods – all while ensuring bears and other wildlife don’t expect your yard to become a cafeteria. Click here to learn more!
2 Clean up the summer fun. Give any outdoor cooking or food preparation areas a good cleaning – including barbecue grease traps. These smelly areas will draw all manner of wildlife to the yard; a quick cleaning makes the area less appealing to animals, and safer for you!
3 Keep dogs on leash in natural areas. They’re cute and cuddly to us, but to a black bear, a dog can be a serious threat. Keeping dogs on leash (unless in designated areas) keeps everyone safe.
Photo by 1827photo / Getty Images
4 Educate your neighbours. A new neighbour, or one who simply hasn’t had anyone chat with them about attractant management and how to coexist with bears, could always use a helpful, compassionate message! You can share with them articles like this, or just look for an opportunity to talk about bears – and how awesome they are!
5 Order door hangers. Our educational door hangers let folks in a community know that black bears are around – and they’re a natural, healthy part of our communities and ecosystems. It also includes information on attractant management and how to minimize impact on bears. Click here to order yours for FREE and distribute in your community!
There are many ways we can support wildlife – never feeding, managing attractants, and educating our communities are at the tops of our lists. Do you have unique ways to help your community understand black bear behaviour, or other attractants that may get missed? Let us know by emailing info@TheFurBearers.com or finding us on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube or LinkedIn!
