Bears in Alaska (Anchorage, Kodiak, Valdez: home, campsites, living)

[ImAHobbit]

Originally Posted by Jason28

Here in Kodiak we live amoung tons of the largest bears in the world. Some of the bears here have woken up early as there have been reports of some of them meandering around a few weeks ago.

Fear not though, I have some useful tips for avoiding them because I'm a professional.

First off when you go to sleep you want to put your trash cans outside, preferably near an entrance to your home. Make sure the trash cans are overflowing with stinky food, this will be sure to keep them far away because bears hate the smell of stinky trash.

For my next tip you'll want a cement bucket, honey nut cheerios, and several bottles of aunt jamima's syrup. You want to start off by taking an empty cement bucket and filling it up with aunt jamima's syrup. It should take roughly 8 to 10 normal sized bottles to do so. Once its about half to three quarters full, pour honey nut cheerios in the cement bucket and mix it up real well. When you have a good mixture head outside and make a giant square shape around your house coating the ground about 6 to 10 inches from the house itself. Be sure to not leave any openings because a bear may attempt to squeeze through it. Bears dont like syrup or cheerios, its science.

The last step you want to partake in is a sure fire way to stay safe. Before bed open all the windows in the house and then turn a fan on yourself so it blows air out the window. Layer your bed with trash bags as to not make too big of a mess. I recommend industrial strength Glad® trash bags myself. Approximately fifteen minutes before bed you should completely coat yourself in honey from head to toe. I saw this on the Discovery channel one time.

Well thats it. Good luck staying safe and try to keep warm.

That's one way to keep the bears off you.
Unfortunately, some city folk are only about that smart. In the Lower 48 they can be seen in droves at Jellystone Park sneaking in close to bears, elk and bison trying to get close-up photos. A couple years ago there was a couple putting their baby on the back of a bison for a photo op. Fortunately, all survived - unscathed!

[FloridaKash]

I live on the East Side of Anchorage which is where a lot of Bear issues occur. In fact, my backyard backs up to the Ft. Richardson reserve so there is nothing but miles and miles of forest behind my home. My home is about 1-2 miles from the park where a bicyclist was mauled last year. I have 3 young children, 6, 5, 2 as you can imagine I am not comfortable with them playing outside without supervision. I have seen the bear in my neighbor's trash (he's lazy and has a pick up bed trailer. He fills it up with trash and takes it to the dump maybe once every 2 months. Its a bear buffet and illegal).

So, how do I deal with it? Last year I installed a 5 foot chain link fence and electrified it (an electric wire out the outside of the fence, not on the inside...kids can't touch it). Electric fences are very effective on keeping bears out. They have done tests and bear's can smell the electricity and will avoid the fence.....especially if heir nose has been zapped before.

I do not own a large enough gun to properly defend myself from a bear (You need AT LEAST a .44). Instead I have bear spray that has a holster. Its a larger can and there have been studies that Bear Spray is more effective than a handgun for bear protection (although the range for bear spray is much less than a gun....only about 20 feet). My kids have whistles with them when they play outside so they can easily alert me if the see a bear. My spray is like a fire extinguisher by my door in a holster, ready to go.

Also, we tent camp a lot. Once in awhile you will see that their are notices telling you a bear has been recently seen. We still camp at these spots. I have 2 dogs with us which are great alert dogs. I have my bear spray in my holster on my hip and another in our tent with the family. We keep all trash and coolers with food locked in the car when we see these notices. Haven't had a problem yet.

Be cautious, think and keep your eyes and ears open when in bear country. Its simple. I would rather live around and/near bears than live in most parts of the world that have idiots running around with AK-47's threatening people and conducing hideous crimes.

~Kash

[GrammasCabin]

[blueflames50]

many points to you GrammasCabin for that one!!!

[Grannysroost]

ROFL...It starts out serious, then the kicker...

[GrammasCabin]

That picture hangs in my outhouse. Along with 'don't put your dam paper down the hole!'

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g256/GrammasCabin/Grammas%20Cabin/Home002-1.jpg (broken link)

[Grannysroost]

That is a topnotch outhouse!!! Kudos on the decorating!!

[rsuu123]

before you go to bed, spray the top of your garbage container, and all around the lid, etc with a mixture of ammonia/water. About 1/3 ammonia and the rest water in a cheap hand help spray bottle works pretty good.
Bears hate the scent, you have to do it nightly.

works down here. oh..and btw...lock your container and keep your pets inside.
thnx
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[Glitch]

Originally Posted by dcdc2009a

I see some posting on adn.com that there are too many bears strolling around in Anchorage and some place in Alaska, and my impression mostly from TV is that bears do come into human inhabited cities and towns, kind of like vagabond cats and dogs in lower 48s looking for foods.

I would like to know how people in Alaska deals with bears especially if bears happen to be sighted in their neighborhood.

Being mauled by a bear is definitely something I'm not interested in. Bearing mauling can not only kill you, but leave you permanently disfigured.

There are not "too many" bears strolling around Anchorage. There are approximately 300 black bears and between 50 and 60 grizzly/brown bears within the city limits of Anchorage. You also have to realize that the city limits of Anchorage encompasses from Eklutna to Portage, an area that is almost twice as large as Rhode Island or roughly the size of Delaware at 2,000 square miles.

Most responsible people, like AlaskaKash, will take steps to ensure their property is safe from unwanted intrusion. While that doesn't necessarily mean putting up an electric fence, it does require people to be responsible with their trash and what they leave in their yard unattended (like pets or children). The responsible people do not have a problem with bears.

The vast majority of the bear problems in Anchorage are from people who do not secure their trash. Which makes it a people problem, not a bear problem.

Personally, I keep my trash inside my garage until such time I haul it to the dump. I see many people with trash services and bear-proof trash cans that overfill the trash cans, or simply don't bother to put the lid on the trash can. If I had it my way, I would cite these people for illegal bear baiting. There is no excuse for that kind of irresponsibility.

[arctichomesteader]

And then because of irresponsible people the bears become dangerous to people (see people as a source of food, lose their fear, etc.)...