Bear ripping into chicken barn

[Birdydeb]

Where do you live? I am in the country and I just saw a young bear the other day. A neighbor is monitoring it on his field cam but I am pretty sure if it becomes a nuisance someone will come remove it or it can be shot. Now I know they removed a tagged mom and two cubs earlier in the spring and everyone was watching her since she couldn't be shot because she had a tag. Maybe I am misinformed. Or confused. I don't understand if it is creating that much destruction why it can't be shot. Is it a tagged bear? I guess you need to invest in some electric poultry netting if you want to keep chickens...

What kind of bear are we talking about?

 

[mrsfeig86]

...

Seriously?? Who told you this?  Is there someone higher up the ladder you can talk to? Maybe you and your neighbors can rally together to get something done? I would think that your local or state DNR, game commissioner, or whoever your local wildlife people are would not want this bear in a populated area. 
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The local the game warden told us this.
He's set the bear trap twice for 2 days but the bear wasn't around then.

 

[mrsfeig86]

It's a black bear

Where do you live? I am in the country and I just saw a young bear the other day. A neighbor is monitoring it on his field cam but I am pretty sure if it becomes a nuisance someone will come remove it or it can be shot. Now I know they removed a tagged mom and two cubs earlier in the spring and everyone was watching her since she couldn't be shot because she had a tag. Maybe I am misinformed. Or confused. I don't understand if it is creating that much destruction why it can't be shot. Is it a tagged bear? I guess you need to invest in some electric poultry netting if you want to keep chickens...

What kind of bear are we talking about?

.

It's a black bear, unsure of size or anything. My parents live on a pretty busy dirt road going to a lake in a very rural country area, no stores for 30min drive.
We were never given a reason what's specials bout that bear can it destroy animals and property without them caring.

 

[BackYarding GC]

If it is killing your birds, and destroying property near or right outside your home its time to kill that thing before a human gets hurt or worse killed.

You will not be going to jail if it is self defense and if they claim that is the case take them to court as theres no way they can legally say "you can't stop a bear from harming you".

A shotgun with 12 gauge 00 will work but make sure to have a second shooter at the ready as a wounded animal is dangerous, drop it hard and fast.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That is definitely a nuisance bear and needs to be shot. I don't blame you for being nervous. Electric poultry netting is probably your only choice.....and shoot that bear! I'm really kinda surprised the authorities aren't making a bigger effort to track this bear. A child could end up getting hurt.

Regardless of what Walt Disney has to say on the subject Black Bears are a definite predator of human beings, especially of the young, women, and small children. The worst offenders are healthy adult male bears who seemingly become curious about what people taste like, decide to sneak a bite, and then can't stop at just one..

Recently as many as 16 North Americans have been killed in a single decade by Black Bears. None of the attacks seemed to be defensive attacks.
They all seemed to be predatory attacks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

 

[mrsfeig86]

My Dad keeps arguing that black bears are completely harmless that they are more afraid of us then we are of them... While I think that may have been true at one point, I think it's not true anymore and especially not true with the bear that they are dealing with right now. I just wish it was a little easier to explain to someone who has taught me things all my life that wildlife is evolving.

 

[BackYarding GC]

Most times bears are afraid of people but in this case the bear is associating people with food and it is no longer afraid of humans which is not good.

I like animals but when they become a threat like this one its time to either A. Tranq it, and relocate it to a reserve where people are not allowed or B. Put it down before it hurts/kills someone.

Sad yes but this bear is a problem now that will only get more and more bold.

 

[mrsfeig86]

The move is happening this week and I need advice!!
My chicks and ducks have been able to kind of roam free where we are currently living.. Are they going to adjust well to living 24/7 in a chicken barn? We are too scared to put a run on their house with the bear problem.

 

[Bird Zoo 45]

I have also had an bear experience, only I lost a couple Thousand dollars worth of birds and enclosure damages. However with a background in the exotic animal industry and having a large network of people that have exotics and have trained and kept bears, lions, tigers, ect. I always knew that electric fence was a good way to keep out predators however bears as a general rule have a extreme dislike for the stuff. In fact i had a friend tell me (who used to work in a zoo and also used to train animals for hollywood) that bears dislike it so much that all it takes is one good zap and the bear learns not the challenge the fence.
SO my advise to you would be put up a perimeter electric fence to keep the bear at bay and then build the secure runs inside that fence so your birds will still have access to the outside. ALSO another thing i have found that helps is having lights outside arround the enclosures usually predators do not like to be seen in the darkness.

Since my bear problem I am putting up an 8 foot fence around my enclosures ( i also will be able to let some of my birds free range inside the compound) and will run a few strands of electric fence on the outside with "security" lights all around as well.

Oh another note: Try to find the highest output of fence charger you can afford. The amount of "zap" depends on the "Joule" output. I searched and searched and finally found one that is a 6 joule output that supports 100 miles of fence however that is divided in half after each strand is added the 100 miles is for one strand of electric wire. Also try to get a low impedance one.
hope this helps!

 

[awarmrainyday]

With it doing that much damage it has become a nuisance. I think it that instance they can be shot, you'd have to check with the game commission. Otherwise electric fencing/wire all over your enclosure is about your only option.

My parents have a black bear that routinely visits their house and all the neighbors. They live at the base of the mountains. He tears down the bird feeders and empties them, UNSCREWS the hummingbird feeders and drinks the sugar water, and occasionally looks in the windows. He stood up and had his paws on the screen trying to see in their porch and my mom opened the door and yelled and he ran away. Other people have complained about him but the game commission says since he's not really hurting anything there's nothing to be done.