Submitted by Northern Bear Awareness Society
Fall is here and as the weather gets colder bears are getting ready for hibernation and entering hyperphagia, meaning they are fattening up and looking to stuff their faces with anything edible.
It’s important to keep vigilant in managing your attractants. Secure your garbage cans with ratchet straps, freeze tempting foods such as meat scraps, seafood, egg shells, etc, until garbage day, and store your bin in a garage or shed if possible.
With apple season coming to an end we are reminding you to pick any remaining fruit left on the trees. Thank you to everyone who donated to Northern Lights Estate Winery.
Another attractant you may not have thought about are those lovely orange gourds on your front porch. Pumpkins are wonderful seasonal decor, however they can attract bears to our yards. Remember, bears are looking to get as fat as they can before the winter months and a pumpkin is a delicious treat that they can’t resist.
Because we live in bear country we need to live a little differently: store your pumpkins inside in a cool, dark place to keep it fresh until Halloween, or for those who like them for decor, consider putting them in your front windows displaying them from inside your home, or buying artificial pumpkins to be used year after year. As a final and very important reminder, please wait to put jack-o-lanterns out until the night of Halloween then dispose of them appropriately the next day.