DNR Advises Everyone to Become “Bear Wise” This Time of Year

It is spring time and that means it is also time for young male bears and mama bears to come out of the woods to forage for food and look for new territory.

In our area, it is not uncommon to encounter black bears this time of year.  Young males are searching for their own territories and female bears are foraging for food for themselves and their new cubs.

Most of the time, black bears will go out of their way to avoid human interaction, but a mother bear with cubs does not take kindly to humans getting near her or her cubs and that is one of the few times a black bear will actually attack.  So it is important to make sure to make your property unattractive to black bears.

That’s why the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is encouraging everyone to be “Bear Wise”  to keep black bears from becoming a nuisance on your property.

Adam Hammond, is a state bear biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division.

He tells WNEG News it is pretty easy to avoid a confrontation with a black bear by making your home and property bear proof.

“One of the six BearWise Basics is about securing food, garbage and recycling,” he said. “When bears have access to human-provided foods, regardless of the source or the intent, they will take advantage of them and that often leads to further problems.”

He said make sure bears do not have access to your garbage by putting secure lids on garbage cans and keeping them in a garage or shed.  Also, pick up pet food that may be left outside during the day so bears don’t find it overnight.

Hammond said when bears have access to human food or pet food, they will keep coming back for more and that can cause even more problems.

“Once bears have learned bad habits and have come to rely on people for a ‘free meal,’ they never change those behaviors and nuisance bear behavior progressively gets worse with time and experience,” Hammond explained. “If you really care about bears, please make the extra effort to ensure that your home and yard are ‘unattractive’ to bears – to protect yourself, your family and pets, and bears.”

And if you have a black bear coming around and you don’t know how to get rid of it, Hammond advises calling your local DNR office or your Sheriff’s office to report the problem.

To learn more about becoming Bear Wise you can go to the Bear Wise web site at: www.bearwise.org.

BearWise is an education program developed by bear biologists from each of the 15 state wildlife agencies that make up the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

The program offers specific, detailed, and high-quality information to help people live responsibly with bears and to keep bears wild.