I don't know if this "quote deal" will work for me but here goes. I read 99% of the info on Treadwell and what happened to him and his girlfriend. Listened to parts of the the tape recording etc. The Ak Fish and Game said not only was it a bad year, (we agree) but that another important aspect of the tragedy was he picked a campsite at a 3 way junction on heavily traveled paths. I watched him with "Mr Chocolate" etc, and I knew it would'nt be long,,,,,,,,
I am sorry for anyone's loss of flock(s) due to predation, fox coyotes or bears. As a biologist, (or wife of) you are aware that griz have tendancies unlike blacks, as is the same for polar, yes they are bears, yes they should well be respected, and given a wide berth. I'm not saying I'd run over and hug 'em. I'm saying each specie, each individual needs it's own measure of respect, and thought given on how to approach or deter. When we built our coop, much thought went into the fact that we do have bears here, and it was built like fort knox. I've seen posts on "after the feed" or "into the garbage" then who knows what next". It's like the carrot before the horse. Opportunistic, you bet they are, inquisitive, hell yeah, so why give them reason to be? Small windows, no feed laying around, no garbage = no scent. We've had bear on our deck, looking for the bird feeder they smashed (before I could get it down) with 50 lbs of sunflower seed in a covered metal 30 gallon bucket right beside them, and not touch it. I've seen coops with windows a moose could walk through, with bug screen. Then to "lock 'em in" they close the pop door, and leave the window open. Go figger? It sucks losing a pet, or any livestock. All we CAN and SHOULD do is take precautions, and hope for the best. I'm even gonna put in an intercom. I sleep light, and yes I like bears, (and we love Alaska!) but I pity the poor bugger that's where he's NOT suppossed to be in the middle of the night.
Jafo, I was not meaning offense to you.
By expert I was referring to Lynn Rogers. I have a real problem with people like Rogers and Treadwell, who claim to know all about bears. They make statements and people take them at their word.....and more often than not end up getting hurt or killed. Bears of all species are wild creatures, there are typical behaviors but for each typical behavior there are exceptions. Each individual bear is different and each year is different. We too built our coop like Fort Knox. We don't leave out garbage, feed, compost or anything to attract a bear, something we learned from growing up here. But we still lost our flock to a bear this year, he ripped through the fence (impressive 'cause it was something) and into the coop (it's really skookum too). He has been back to check for more chickens every night. We have had bears around before but not had problems. We are having a great salmon/berry year, so this behavior isn't typical....but there you go sometimes it isn't the norm. He got into the neighbors house, another neighbors open windows, and another persons garage. Now he is a problem. Just a tip, a baby monitor works great for the coop and it's a pretty cheap alternative, that's what we use!
I am sorry for anyone's loss of flock(s) due to predation, fox coyotes or bears. As a biologist, (or wife of) you are aware that griz have tendancies unlike blacks, as is the same for polar, yes they are bears, yes they should well be respected, and given a wide berth. I'm not saying I'd run over and hug 'em. I'm saying each specie, each individual needs it's own measure of respect, and thought given on how to approach or deter. When we built our coop, much thought went into the fact that we do have bears here, and it was built like fort knox. I've seen posts on "after the feed" or "into the garbage" then who knows what next". It's like the carrot before the horse. Opportunistic, you bet they are, inquisitive, hell yeah, so why give them reason to be? Small windows, no feed laying around, no garbage = no scent. We've had bear on our deck, looking for the bird feeder they smashed (before I could get it down) with 50 lbs of sunflower seed in a covered metal 30 gallon bucket right beside them, and not touch it. I've seen coops with windows a moose could walk through, with bug screen. Then to "lock 'em in" they close the pop door, and leave the window open. Go figger? It sucks losing a pet, or any livestock. All we CAN and SHOULD do is take precautions, and hope for the best. I'm even gonna put in an intercom. I sleep light, and yes I like bears, (and we love Alaska!) but I pity the poor bugger that's where he's NOT suppossed to be in the middle of the night.
Jafo, I was not meaning offense to you.
