Big Sky Times

There have already been reports of sightings of bears, which indicates that they are beginning to emerge from their winter sleep. 

Bear specialists recommend that you conduct an inspection of your property to ascertain that it has been bear-proofed to the greatest extent feasible and that all attractants have been safely stored. On the Facebook page titled "Flathead Bear Aware" there are various helpful hints offered about how to keep bears away from your property.

 The following is a list of some helpful hints: 

Erect electric fencing around all bird coops and cattle. You will need at least three to five wires extending from ankle to chest height, and the energizers must have a voltage range of at least 8,000 to 10,000 volts and a joule rating of at least one. 

Keep waste safe from bears by storing it in a bear-resistant container or by securing it inside a strong enclosure away from windows and doors. 

From now until the end of November, remove and store away any and all bird feeders and suet cakes. Instead, you should put out birdbaths and flowers that hang from the ceiling. 

Keep all of the food for the pets and feed for the livestock inside the home or in a secure enclosure outside. 

To create the illusion of human activity in outbuildings such as barns, coops and garages, listen to talk radio programs at night. 

Get some motion detector alarms such as Gadflys or Critter Gitters and install them in your home. As a second line of defense, they are effective at preventing bears from being attracted to food sources, but electric fences should be the first line of defense.

 Put your refrigerators and freezers inside of secure structures rather than putting them on your front porch. If you do this, you will be teaching bears that porches are good places to collect food. 

Increase the heat on your grill after you've used it so that any leftover food and fat may be burned off. It is imperative that the grease trap be emptied. 

Harvest the fruit from your fruit trees in the fall! Check out the Flathead Fruit Gleaning page or group on Facebook to connect with members of the community who either have fruit trees that they want picked or who are looking for opportunities to help pick fruit from other people's trees. If you never harvest the fruit from your trees, you might want to think about removing them and planting spring snow crabapple trees in their place. Nevertheless, they do not produce any fruit despite the fact that they are lovely when they are flowering. 

If there is a bear on your land, you should try to get it to go. It is imperative that you do not stand by and allow it to become accustomed to the fact that it is in danger while it is in the company of people or in close proximity to their homes. - To frighten the bear away, bang pots and pans together, yell at the animal, and use air horns or automobile alarms. We have had to deal with a lot of accidents caused by individuals trying to scare bears away with weapons, so we ask that you please avoid from using guns in this situation. Because most bears do not want to interact with humans, the human voice is frequently the most effective deterrent. -Keep in touch with your immediate surroundings. It's possible that you're doing all the necessary precautions to keep bears away from your property, but if your neighbor isn't, then they're putting both you and the bear in danger.