Western North Carolina is well known for its black bear population. The mountains and foothills offer an ideal environment for all types of life, but particularly black bears. Black bears need a mix of coniferous and deciduous foliage, streams and swamp lands which makes this area perfect for them.

As the human population in this area surges and a new development is popping up every other week it seems, this can spell trouble for people and bears alike. As people have taken over more of the land in this area, homeowners and renters are reporting increasingly frequent encounters with these animals, and many don’t know how to deter them or what to do when they see one. 

Good Samaritans may see that the bears are hungry and skinny (especially after their long winter nap) and intentionally provide them with food, whereas others are more careless with garbage or food scraps that attract bears to their property. Sometimes even having a nice vegetable garden or fruit trees on your property can bring bears around. Afterall, their goal is to get as much food as possible Spring thru Fall because they tend to hibernate or sleep through the winter. In the summertime, a full-grown adult bear will eat up to 20,000 calories and gain 3-4 pounds a DAY!

Just about everyone can agree that seeing a bear in your yard is neat, but can also be concerning, especially if you have outdoor pets or children who like to play in the yard. Although black bear attacks are rare, they do occasionally happen and people and pets can get hurt badly. In general, mama bears with cubs tend to have the highest attack rate due to wanting to protect their young, but most lone bears have no interest in attacking humans and are more afraid of people than not. Most of the time, a loud noise will scare black bears off if you do have an encounter. However, there are many ways to help prevent them from entering your yard in the first place and we’ll discuss that below. Many of them are common sense and relatively inexpensive or even free.

1. Make sure trash is put away, double bagged, and keep your yard clean and free of food scraps or other debris with a strong scent that may attract bears. A common cause of bears entering your yard is having a compost pile. If you have a compost pile, place an electric fence around it and add lime to speed up the decomposition process and help control strong odors. Avoid placing meat scraps (which aren’t very good for compost anyway) and sweet-smelling food stuffs such as cake, cookie, or other sweet scraps.

2. If you feed your pet outside, make sure their food dishes don’t remain outside and verify that they eat all of it. Don’t leave pet food scraps or keep your pet food outside as that can attract bears.

3. Bring your birdfeeders in at night or when you leave for the day. Bears LOVE birdseed. Some neighborhoods in the area have had such a huge problem with bears that they’ve actually banned bird feeders.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, bears may still be attracted to your area and will be hard-pressed to leave. When this happens, there are a couple other things you can do to help deter bears. Some additional tips on how to handle a bear encounter when the above suggestions fail is below. (NOTE: The NC Wildlife Resource Commission will not trap and relocate bears in MOST circumstances. More about that here)

1. Leave them alone and make sure your pets and children are inside and safe. Do not approach a bear in your yard, ESPECIALLY if it’s a mother and her cubs. As stated above, it’s rare that a lone black bear poses a genuine threat to you or your children, but when provoked by a dog or a person, they can and will act out occasionally making the situation unsafe for everyone involved.

2. Make a loud noise such as banging pots and pans while facing them or making yourself look bigger by waving your arms. Don’t look them in the eye, as many animals, black bears included, may perceive this as a threat and charge. Black bears can run up to a whopping 35 miles per hour, so be mindful of their speed when scaring them off. Do not turn away and walk or run the opposite direction as this can activate the bear’s instinct to chase you and you will not be able to outrun it.

More information about bears and how to prevent and deter them is available through the NC Wildlife Resource Commission website located here and the Humane Society of the United States here.