Cooler autumn weather triggers bears to begin their annual fall eat-a-thon, known as hyperphagia, to prepare for winter.
During this intense feeding period, bears can forage up to 20 hours a day beginning in late summer when berries and fruits have ripened and peaking when pears and apples are available.
This year, the mountain berry crop in Western Oregon was scarce, drawing more bears to human food sources even before hyperphagia began. And once a bear is rewarded with an easy meal, it will keep coming back and can pose a serious safety risk to people and pets.
Because bears take advantage of free food – garbage, pet food, bird seed, livestock and poultry feed – Oregon residents, vacation rental managers, and visitors should remove or secure those food sources.
Oregon’s black bears are highly concentrated along the coast, in the Cascades, and in the Blue Mountains. Coastal residents and visitors need to be especially vigilant as bears are common even in more populated and highly visited seaside towns. ODFW strongly encourages property managers to provide bear-resistant trash cans, educate guests how to use those cans and give them BearWise tips to minimize the risk of bear encounters or issues.
Because bears can smell food from miles away and home in on that source, unsecured trash is one of the primary reasons bears are attracted to neighborhoods. Bears also have an incredible memory of where they have found food before – female bears pass this knowledge down to their young. Feeding bears, whether intentional or accidental, can have long-lasting negative effects on multiple generations of bears.
The good news is that most conflict between humans and bears is preventable.
Removing things that attract bears to the area is the most important thing you can do to protect people and ensure bears stay healthy and wild. Follow these tips to be BearWise:
- Never feed or approach bears. Feeding bears, whether you mean to or not, will cause them to associate humans with food. It is also against the law in Oregon (ORS 496.730).
- Secure food, garbage and recycling. Ensure trash, compost bins and dumpsters are secure by using locking or screw-on lids, metal bars over dumpsters, or fully enclosed trash storage. Take trash out immediately before pick-up, not the night before pickup.
- Remove bird feeders. Birds have plenty of naturally available food sources.
- Feed pets inside and store food indoors. Pet food attracts bears and other wildlife, putting your pets and wildlife at risk.
- Clean and store grills after each use.
- Alert neighbors to unusual bear activity (continued sightings during daylight hours, lack of wariness around humans or pets, etc.). Share these tips with your neighbors!
For those with backyard chicken flocks, review these BearWise tips on raising chickens in bear country.
These simple yet effective steps will go a long way to avoid conflict and keep bears and people safe. Contact your local district ODFW office if you need assistance with a bear-human conflict or observe unusual or aggressive behavior from a bear. Report human safety concerns to Oregon State Police.
