Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

[mishellez]

Visiting my backyard is the largest record bear caught by NJ Fish & Game...weighed in at 726 pounds 2 years ago in May. They estimated he would go to 800-1,000 lbs winter weight....before moving here I had NO IDEA a black bear could get that large. We call him 'Mongo' and he's literally the size of a VW Beetle. I promise you that not only is Mongo not human-aggressive but he knows about firecrackers and runs like hell if we even make the motion like we're lighting a pack. He does love hitting up everyone's garbage on trash day so he's familiar to us, and he's wandered through when the girls are out in the yard and showed a definite interest. But we're careful to monitor 'outies' and if he makes a wrong move he gets a faceful of firecrackers. He has never come through in the middle of the night to rip the coop apart though he darn well could, nor has he ever touched my house. I believe that using them has been a great deterrent (10+ years) and has never caused us a problem. Personally I love the seeing the wildlife and I'm (so far) happy at finding a way to be able to co-exist peacefully.

 

[Gerry2011]

Well, your bears must be more timid than our Arkie ones.

Good friends of mine for the last 3 years running have had bears that do NOT respond to rifles, shotguns, firecrackers or their 2 Great Pyrenees barking and running around them, so Arkansas Game and Fish brought traps out and relocated them. Their deck wraps around 3 sides of the house and the bears seemed to love rambling around on it.

All of the bears have been females for whatever that's worth. The traps look like BIG 55 gallon drums with a drop down end (spring loaded) and the non-movable end is very heavy steel...not mesh, but more like a grate and it's all mounted on a trailer.

 

[mishellez]

Wow...well my sight-unseen armchair-quarterback assessment of that situation makes me think that there's something there that's attracting them. I've been here in New Jersey pre-during-and-post bear hunt seasons (huge controversy here) and I have noticed that they definitely are more respectful of humans when there's a hunting season for them. My garbage was hit this past week for the first time in a year... the only thing taken was ONE garbage bag, slit open on my yard, and the Holy Grail removed and chewed: an empty McDonalds bag and cup. Haven't had McDonald's in ages, and I find it interesting that the one time my garbage was hit, the only bag opened, and the only thing removed was McDonalds packaging, which tells me this is a local bear used to feasting on the nearby McDonalds dumpster by-products. They have awesome noses and if that's a food item that bear was familiar with (no doubt) that was what brought him over to my garbage instead of any neighbor's.

Not to scare the OP that bears are uncontrollable demons. They're smart as heck and they can be aversion-trained but it's imperative to drive them off the second they show an interest in something you don't want them to get into, or they'll find out it's yummy and come back for more. I have to think there's a season for bear in Arkansas so I'm shocked that they're not run off by gunshots and dogs. Remove all temptation that attracts them in the first place and don't be afraid to make sure they're unwelcome. I might be a little nutty when it comes to defense of my chickens, but I have stood off with bears using nothing but a plastic lawn chair, and sometimes throwing flip-flops. To date they might think I'm nuts but they've stood down and gave up trying for a free chicken dinner. And if all else fails, do like the prior poster said and have them, him or her removed as a nuisance animal.

 

[Gerry2011]

Bird feeders were the attraction with the first bear, so no feeders bird or otherwise are put out until later in the summer (these have all been spring events) and garbage was never outside. This couple lives on 46A surrounded on all 4 sides by both national forest and wilderness area. We suspect, and the rangers agree that because of the severe winters we've been having it's creating early spring food shortages and that mommas are searching for food....but none of these were nursing mothers.

Because of our (well, usually mild) winters our bears don't hibernate like more northern bears do. Yes, there is a bear hunting season but it's not like there are 1000s of hunters out covering the entire state. This couple while on a paved highway does not have a landline, because they are 5 miles from the closest phone line! For cell phone service they have to drive up the mountain about 3 miles to get reception.

And the nearest MickeyD is 45 miles away!

 

[Equus5O]

The firecrackers are a fair enough idea if you witness the bear strolling through. My flock was decimated at about 7 am. I was in the kitchen, I presume, and not looking out the window at the time. I'm not going to shoot at, or blast firecrackers at every bear I see wandering through our 44 acres. We've seen plenty during our years here, and have only had one attack. I can't imagine that running in and grabbing a shot gun every time I see a bear would have prevented the attack we suffered in April '11. Had I witnessed the slaughter, and had the presence of mind to do so, I would have blasted the so-and-so. So, I will rely on the electric fence. I hope it works. If it doesn't, I don't see as how I have any other options.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

My DH has a close friend that had a black bear get into his coop and kill most of his chickens. The next night when the bear came back to finnish them all off he was ready. He shot the bear and called fish and game and said 'come get your bear'. Here in Idaho its legal to kill wildlife that's harming your livestock. Hopefully you can figure it out before this happens to you. I would call fish and game and report it if I where you.

 

[stcroixusvi]

Bears are migratory. We've had them before and when they have eaten enough, they move on. I wouldn't shoot the bear. Sadly, we've overgrown in this area, so there is not much of the woods left for them. I also had a friend who had a bear kill half his chickens. He repaired his coop and the bear did not return. I just want to have a deterrent so that he doesn't think about the chickens when he comes around. Bears are also opportunistic, and don't seem to want to work too hard for their meal. I think the electric fence is the way to go, I just need to learn how to rig one up.

 

[mishellez]

Quote:
Black bears are territorial, not migratory. They establish home ranges with loose boundaries of several miles, and a male's territory will overlap several females'. Yearlings who are kicked out by mom when she has new cubs are pushed along until they find a territory that hasn't been claimed by another bear. In the natural bear world, wild areas with no humans, bears have huge territories that they constantly range around foraging in order to fatten up. In human-populated areas, bears have smaller territories because they've figured out how to live off of us very well. Vegetable gardens, livestock/pets and their feed, bird feeders, barbeques and most especially, GARBAGE. They don't look for enough food to satisfy them for the day, they look for the highest calorie foods they can find and gorge so they can pack on fat reserves, and human habitation makes doing that much easier for them. Kill a bear and another will come fill the void and take over its territory. Also, because of the great eating humans provide, studies have shown that black bears who live in populated areas are fertile at a younger age, produce more cubs, and grow larger. Couple that with the fact that they are habituated to people, lights, activity, cars, etc., and they tend to be bolder than bears who live out in the woods as nature intended and have never seen a person.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound preachy if that's how it came off, just trying to clear up a misconception. I used to be terrified of bears wandering through my yard on a regular basis so I did a lot of research to learn more about them to try and understand them, and I'm always happy to pass it along. I want to add that I'm not opposed to hunting or to killing a problem animal, as I fully advocate defending yourself, your home and your possessions from threat. Hot wire, I've heard, is great but apparently you have to put some food item on it to actually encourage the bears to not only come right up but to touch it with their tongues or noses; it's a way to 'condition' them and put it in their minds that this is not a place they want to be or a thing they want to mess with. Also don't forget to secure any feed and not leave feeders out at night, which could probably attract them faster than your chickens would.

Good luck setting up a situation that protects you and your chickens and allows the bears to 'do their thing naturally' without causing mayhem or heartbreak for you. I understand fully that peace of mind when living in bear country is important. I'll get off my soapbox and just end by saying that if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[stcroixusvi]

Quote:
Black bears are territorial, not migratory. They establish home ranges with loose boundaries of several miles, and a male's territory will overlap several females'.
<snip>
Good luck setting up a situation that protects you and your chickens and allows the bears to 'do their thing naturally' without causing mayhem or heartbreak for you. I understand fully that peace of mind when living in bear country is important. I'll get off my soapbox and just end by saying that if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

I am happy to be corrected. We've lived in our home, off and on, since 1993 and had many encounters with bears. In the past, we have lost bird feeders to the bears. We don't feed the birds during this time, and keep the lids on our garbage cans, tucked in the garage. But I had some compost open with shavings and chicken feed from when the peeps were in the brooder. I have since covered it and put pungent pine shavings on top - the bear has not been back. The bear did not try to get into the feed bins in the storage area of the coop. He seemed more interested in getting the easy seed that was on the run floor. Fortunately, he must not have been that hungry because he did not knock the gate down - which he could have done easily.

I see what you mean about making sure the bear feels the wire, and that simply putting it up is not an assurance that he will be deterred. We do have dogs (4!) but on the 2 days of the close visits, the dogs were inside and on one day, we were not home - the day he broke the window. (We know it was the bear, because our neighbor happened to be driving by our yard and saw him. He is HUGE. I saw him down the road on Saturday night, and he is the biggest and roundest bear I have ever seen.

There has been a great crop of berries and acorns, so I am hoping he gets his full. Also, we border a huge area that is undeveloped, and I do hope that he wanders back into that area. As it is, we have over 5 acres, and our neighbors are all bear savvy at this point. This is the first time in a long time that there has been anything in anyone's yard that attracted the bears. I am to blame

Thanks again for enlightening me. I am always happy to learn.

 

[mishellez]

No problem! I sort of straddle the line between the Save the Bears people and the people who want to see them exterminated. I think everything has a right to live, including us, our pets and our livestock. While we humans are responsible for taking sensible measures to protect ourselves and our domesticated animals, that doesn't mean that I believe that the wild animals we co-exist with have the right to make an easy meal of them.

The reason I've read about attracting a bear to contact hot wire with nose or tongue is that he won't be shocked anywhere else because of his thick fur, and he'll blow right through hot wire without even noticing it's there. In other words, you want to ENSURE that it is a deterrent and that the bear gets the message. It sounds mean but if you have a bear already actively destroying your coop in an attempt to break in, it sounds like it might be necessary. With my setup, a bear would have to destroy strong well-built fencing or climb over it and wreck the netting on top so I know for sure one hasn't ever come in contact with my coop. I would definitely do the hot-wire setup if I knew I had an attempted or successful break-in because I would feel pretty sure that he would come back to try again, no doubt when I'm not there to see or stop him. This bear is definitely a threat to your chickens, but might have been more attracted to their feed, like you've mentioned. Encourage him to stay away and go look for food elsewhere for the well-being of everyone involved: your chickens, your family and the bear.