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Has there been any sightings where you are?
I've seen three in the past week. 2 in my back yard and 1 by ingles.
Is there anyway to keep them away? I ask because we have 2 small dogs and a cat, sadly my neighbors cat was mauled. I'm not trying to shoot a bear but my dogs are more important.
They are most active right now as they are enjoying the spoils of summer and gearing up for lack of food in winter. Don't put out bird feeders or trash and don't leave your dogs out unattended. They tend to leave you alone if you leave them alone.
We have one of our local bears wander up on/climb up on our deck, perusing our bird feeder and any left over scattered seed. He/she comes anytime of day it chooses. It often scales one of the 8"x8" 25+ foot vertical deck support posts, like it's climbing a tree, as in adroitly.
Lately, several rounds from my pellet pistol, (none penetrating), get its attention and have recently reduced the visits. The noise from the pellet pistol gets their attention...if that doesn't work I can go to my Mossberg pistol grip 12 ga. or my Glock 21 .45 ACP, (which I occasionally carry on my daily morning walk up the mtn).
I am not looking to shoot the bear, but I like the noise even a pellet pistol makes...and if push came to shove, I would use my .45 to defend my life against a bear, after a warning shot or two.
Obvious stuff is no outside trash cans, take bird feeders in at dusk, etc. But, there is no foolproof method of keeping them 'away' no matter where one lives. They are wide ranging, 'route salesmen', with excellent memory of their range, opportunists, and packing on the calories this time of year for the upcoming colder, sparser winter months.
We have had cats, (they spend all day outside), since we have been here, and they are quicker than the bear for escape. Big dogs tend to ward them off, but smaller dogs may be less effective and more vulnerable.
Coyotes, Otoh, have nearly gotten our cats, and are masters at stalking cats or small dogs, vs a bear that tends to lumber in. No easy answer or quick fix, imo.
GL, mD
Last edited by motordavid; 09-20-2013 at 10:56 AM..
Thanks for the links guys but I'm more worried about the dogs then anything else. I don't have any bird feeders and trash gets locked up in the garage til trash day (tues) but they're still coming around.
Last night I had to watch out for the dog because there was one on the other side of the field behind the house. Tried scaring it a way by dry firing my .22 break-barrel pellet rifle and it just got closer. I went and got my .338 remington 700 and then it decided to run off. On our way out this morning to go to craggy gardens there was another one chilling in a tree on the other side of the street.
Like I said I'm not trying to kill it but my dogs are like my kids you know.
QC,
This doesn't sound like a safe place to live if bears are wandering the backyards. What do people do for protection? I don't want to look out my window and see a bear staring back at me. Is this a problem all the time or just certain seasons? Do I need to learn to shoot a gun? I don't want to have to kill a bear.
Donna
Thanks for the reply about the cat enclosures. I never thought that could happen.
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