Over the last week, the bear sightings and apparent visits around here have become a daily occurrence. People walking the roads are encountering themand they are going onto house decks to get to bird feeders then “nesting” alongside roads to sleep and eat. Just today, about 100 feet from our garage we found they had been bringing food into a nesting area 10 to 15 feet off the road where walkers would not even see them.
THE DANGER OF THIS IS IN STARTLING THEM AS IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CAUSED THE MAULING OF A MAN WALKING HIS DOG ON THE NORTH SHORE ROAD LAST YEAR.
WE ATTENDED A PROGRAM A WHILE BACK PUT ON BY THE WASHINGTON DEPT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE BEAR SPECIALIST WHO TOLD US THAT BLACK BEARS HAVE A SENSE OF SMELL MANY, MANY TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN A BLOODHOUND DOG. THEY CAN SMELL TRASH, BIRD FEEDERS AND BARBEQUES FROM TWO MILES AWAY AND WILL FOLLOW THAT SCENT.
PLEASE, FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS ANYWAY UNTIL MORE BERRIES AND NATURAL FOODS FOR THE BEARS ARE MATURING:
1. PACK YOUR TRASH OUT WITH YOU OR KEEP IT INSIDE UNTIL THE MORNING OF PICKUP
2. TAKE DOWN YOUR BIRD FEEDERS. WE LOVE WATCHING BIRDS TOO BUT THIS TIME OF YEAR THERE IS PLENTY OF NATURAL FOOD FOR BIRDS. WE WATCHED A BEAR DO A GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE TO A NEIGHBORS HOME AND DECK LAST YEAR TRYING TO GET TO THE BIRD FEEDERS.
3. BEARS CAN SMELL BARBEQUES AND BARBEQUING. IF YOU MUST BARBEQUE OUTSIDE DO THAT BUT TURN THE HEAT UP HIGH WHEN DONE TO SCRAPE THE GRATES WELL AND THEN STORE THE BARBEQUE INSIDE IF YOU CAN AFTER IT HAS COOLED.
4. GO TO WEBSITE http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/bears.html#facts OF THE WASHINGTON DEPT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE, READ ABOUT BEAR-WISE BEHAVIOR AND WATCH THE VIDEOS THERE.
THIS IS GETTING TO BE A SERIOUS SITUATIONS, FOLKS. THE STATE IS NOT INCLINED TO TRY TO TRAP THESE CRITTERS (WE THINK THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR OF THEM ALONG OUR ROAD) UNTIL THEY THINK WE HAVE TRIED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM BY DOING THE RIGHT THINGS AND TAKING AWAY THE FOOD SOURCE THAT GARBAGE, BIRDFEEDERS ETC ARE. JUST A FEW DAYS WITHOUT THAT FOOD SOURCE AND THEY WILL GO ELSEWHERE. LET’S TRY TO TAKE CARE OF THIS BEFORE WE HAVE A SERIOUS INCIDENT.
GEORGE & JIMI WILSON
15440 CEDAR BRAE
You must log in to post a comment.