What kind of poop is this?

[Aunt Angus]

I'm in California, and just this morning there was a news story of a black bear in the Sierra foothills demolishing a chicken coop and killing all birds but one. It is that time of year.

 

[Shezadandy]

I'm in California, and just this morning there was a news story of a black bear in the Sierra foothills demolishing a chicken coop and killing all birds but one. It is that time of year.

Holy smokes! That is amazing. Hopefully they've got enough to browse on - not sure if bears eat acorns but there are a TON this year along with the unpicked fruit trees dropping their remaining fruit in the area. UGH.

Glad you see the urgency is getting hot wire up, even if it's slap dash for the time being. A single wire at 30inches high baited with peanut butter or bacon will invite the bear to zero in on it and get a nice painful shock. If you wet down the soil where the bear will be standing, it maximizes the jolt.

This time of year, bears take risks they otherwise wouldn't. Your goats are especially vulnerable. Chickens and their feed will be a close second in my experience here where I live. For now, take in all food at night so you won't wake up to a leveled chicken coop and goat pen. Bears can do immense damage in just a few short minutes.

Tomorrow I've got to go get ground rods - luckily this year we've had many soaking rains, so the ground is back to mud.

Edited to ask: Should I leave the brighter-than-day motion sensor light on, or will I just get a thank you note from the bear that says "thanks for the flashlight"?

Here's the coop. Obviously the door is the most vulnerable area -- would a spike strip and/or spike ramp with a bunch of nails/screws sticking - screwed into the front stairs be enough to defend it for a day or two until I get my electric fence up and running? It's a big job in both goat and chicken areas.

Sorry for the not great photos - didn't get home until dusk.

 

[NHMountainMan]

Holy smokes! That is amazing. Hopefully they've got enough to browse on - not sure if bears eat acorns but there are a TON this year along with the unpicked fruit trees dropping their remaining fruit in the area. UGH.




Tomorrow I've got to go get ground rods - luckily this year we've had many soaking rains, so the ground is back to mud.

Edited to ask: Should I leave the brighter-than-day motion sensor light on, or will I just get a thank you note from the bear that says "thanks for the flashlight"?

Here's the coop. Obviously the door is the most vulnerable area -- would a spike strip and/or spike ramp with a bunch of nails/screws sticking - screwed into the front stairs be enough to defend it for a day or two until I get my electric fence up and running? It's a big job in both goat and chicken areas.

Sorry for the not great photos - didn't get home until dusk.

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Yes- Bear are omnivores. They do eat acorns, nuts, berries and fruit, as well as any animal they can kill or scavenge. (We have an apple orchard- without a fence, deer strip the branches and take the fruit off the lower limbs. Bear just snap the branches and eat the apples off the ground)

As for the light - it can't hurt - especially for a younger bear. But bear are very smart, and they'll learn that after a scare or two, they'll likely ignore it. I use motion sensor lights and motion sensor noise alarms, in addition to the electric netting. This time of year, yearlings are being forced away from the sow, and on their own for the first time. Because they have less experience, they tend to be both more easily startled, but hunger makes them bigger risk takers. The bear in my garage, and the ones I see on game camera trying the electric fence (around the orchard and bee hives) - almost always a young male.

 

[cmom]

It could be bear scat but here I have also seen coyote scat that looks similar to it too.

 

[cmom]

I know there are bears here but maybe not in my area. I have never seen one but there is a hunting season for them with a quota. If the quota is met before the end of the season, they shut the season down. We have lots of coyotes. I love the electric wire around my coops and pens. Years ago when I first put it up I did hear some critters that found the wire but now they are wise to it. If you are going to run wire, you can put up as may rows as you want. I have 3 wires but you may want to put up more. I use the poly rope wire but you may want to use the steel wire. You said you have a good fence charger which is a must for critters like bears, 8000/10000 volts. When they touch the wire you want them to really feel it.

 

[NHMountainMan]

It could be bear scat but here I have also seen coyote scat that looks similar to it too.
View attachment 1929873

usually, bear scat is more of a pile, while coyote is more tubular. You can also usually tell the difference in diet - nuts and berries for bear vs hair found in the coyote scat, that looks a lot like dog doo, though with hair of rodents, etc. It would confuse me given your image - there is a lot of color / berry or nut in that (though there is a tube) .

 

[NHMountainMan]

I know there are bears here but maybe not in my area. I have never seen one but there is a hunting season for them with a quota. If the quota is met before the end of the season, they shut the season down. We have lots of coyotes. I love the electric wire around my coops and pens. Years ago when I first put it up I did hear some critters that found the wire but now they are wise to it. If you are going to run wire, you can put up as may rows as you want. I have 3 wires but you may want to put up more. I use the poly rope wire but you may want to use the steel wire. You said you have a good fence charger which is a must for critters like bears, 8000/10000 volts. When they touch the wire you want them to really feel it.
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Can I ask - what predators do you usually need to deter? I know the electric fence will deter coyote and bigger predators. But can smaller predators like mink / weasel get in through the chicken wire? I'm curious as I'm planning to expand my set up.

 

[cmom]

The smallest critters I've had to deal with is mice and rats which I have rat bait boxes in my barn which is behind the coops. Here we have mostly coyotes, fox, possums, coons, bobcat, skunks, hawks, eagles, owls, some feral cats and some dogs that I have seen on our property. Yes mink/weasels can get in through chicken wire. Hardware cloth is better for them. I think someone posted a picture on a thread.

 

[ValerieJ]

I know there are bears here but maybe not in my area. I have never seen one but there is a hunting season for them with a quota. If the quota is met before the end of the season, they shut the season down. We have lots of coyotes. I love the electric wire around my coops and pens. Years ago when I first put it up I did hear some critters that found the wire but now they are wise to it. If you are going to run wire, you can put up as may rows as you want. I have 3 wires but you may want to put up more. I use the poly rope wire but you may want to use the steel wire. You said you have a good fence charger which is a must for critters like bears, 8000/10000 volts. When they touch the wire you want them to really feel it.
View attachment 1929881 View attachment 1929882

That is the kind of electric wire we are putting up next week. I have a question for you. What do you do with the gate? Does it remain a vulnerable area?

 

[ValerieJ]

Our feet are in the picture for scale. We found three such piles on our gravel road, all roughly the same size. We're in Oregon about 25 miles outside of Portland in a hilly forested area. The poop was still very moist and definitely wasn't there a couple days ago.

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I know this is off topic, but when you said 25 miles outside of Portland I got very nostalgic. My aunt and uncle had a farm in an area that far out of Portland called Bonny Slope. It was my favorite place in the whole world as a child. Are you familiar with it?