black bear advice
 

I'm having frequent bear visits, during daylight to my chicken yard/coop. I also have a colony of honeybees, and a bear will wipe them out. They haven't eaten any livestock yet, but one got some eggs today, and they will. I plan to take some more permanent measures (extending the invisible dog fence, and installing an electric fence), but the labor may need to be postponed a few days. Anyone have suggestions as to how to deter black bears in the short term? Hair, Urine, any other hokey remedy?

PS I had a Game Commissioner recommend a sling shot and ball bearings as a teaching aid.

Sit in your coop with pepper spray.

if that fails, bite the bear on the nose - be sure not to miss and bite the lips or muzzle (the bear may think you are overly amorous and get "excited")



these are not nearly as aggressive as a grizzly, so even if you get horribly mauled, the chances of death are low (relatively speaking)

I'm not sitting in the coop without more motivation, but should the bears do enough damage to get me to wait for them, it won't be with pepper spray.

Seriously guys, I'm no neophyte, I tried this first (I'll post pics in the "What's the worst thing you've done working at home thread"), if it had worked I wouldn't have posted this thread.

Slingshot isn't a bad idea, but have a backup in case the bear comes after you.

Black bear maul, and kill, far more people in North America than the grizzly. Severalfold more. Part of it has to do with proximity, but a lot has to do with aggressiveness as well. They are well know to be every bit as, if not more aggressive than grizzlies. I would not take any chances with either. And even a 150 pound black bear will maul you every bit as severely as an 800 pound griz. Then again, either one might very well (and probably will) leave you alone until it thinks you are a problem. They are as individual as we are.

I would strongly suggest you ignore the fish cop's advice about this "training aid". You will succeed in "training" the bear, alright, but you won't be teaching him what you would like him to learn. You will be teaching him that you can't hurt him, and that you can get rather annoying. A very bad combination. Pretty irresponsible to even give that kind of advice, really.

Question:
What kind of bear is best?

Rock salt shotgun loads? With slugs next in the tube? No personal experience, just asking.

http://alamoammo.com/cart/shotgun-ammunition/12-gauge/12-gauge-rock-salt-round-5ct

.45 or .45Mag.

Put up a couple of lines of electric tape. Look up Horse Guard Fence . COM Their tape is excellent and lasts for YEARS!!! A solar charger will feel like a wasp sting. It keeps kids away as well as other visitors. And canines do not like it either. It would be my first line of defense against the bears. They will sense the current and know not to touch.

Oh, Horse Guard has a type of tape that also works as your ground. You will not have to worry about a return current to provide the shock, the tape takes care of that for you. I highly suggest this. It keeps the coyotes away from worrying our horses, but our horses have left a trail of small dogs (like pit bulls, rotweillers, shephards, labradors) dead in their wake.

The DEC gave dad a few rubber .12 ga sabot loads and he shot one square in the back-side. (Thanks to Army training.)

The bear was back a day or two later. Once they get a taste of garbage and chickens, they will never change. (We are way in the country btw - in a place they used to relocate them too, with an active hunting season. )

As for that bear, the DEC came and shot him on the front lawn.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279306200.jpg

Get a male mastiff. About 225 lbs or so is the average weight but they get bigger than that.

Black bears don't like playing with mastiffs. They'll go somewhere else.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279306854.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279306865.jpg

LOL, check out the paws on this puppy:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279307213.jpg

I like big dogs, but I suspect it would be cheaper to feed the bears, than that dog, and I can't imagine the future vet bills.

One that is somewhere else.

"Did someone say bear?"

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...s/da7fbfff.jpg

Yup, mastiffs have health problems, but they are so cool and gentle too.
I'm gonna get one when I retire and move out of So Cal.
Can you imagine cleaning up after one of those dogs? The words John Deere come to mind.

True enough - they won't play. A black bear even half the size of that dog would kill it so fast you would never know what hit it. Granted, at first it might run, depending upon the individual, but when push comes to shove - the only reason the black bear will go somewhere else is because he's done eating this one.

Animals that "do it for a living" are far, far more formidable than domestic animals, no matter how big and impressive they look to us. I used to go out with a coworker who had a cousin that ran dogs for black bear and cougar (when it was still legal to do so up here). He lost at least a dog or two, sometimes more, every season to bears and cats. And these were "seasoned professionals", working in a pack. Blue Ticks, Plots, and stuff like that - bred for the purpose. Not "pets" by any stretch of the imagination. It wouldn't even be a contest with a big ol' clumsy pet dog.