As weather gets warmer and wildlife return to the valley, there will be a noticeable increase in preventable human-bear conflicts occurring within the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal Wildlife Management Program wants to remind residents that bears will be seeking easily available sources of food. While unsecured garbage is the #1 cause of black-bear conflicts, there are other easily-overlooked attractants that could be drawing bears into your yard or on your porch. Including but not limited to: pet food, bird feeders, livestock feed, grain, fruit trees, and uncleaned barbecue grills.
Bears can quickly become food-conditioned, causing them to act too familiar near residential homes and human dwellings and leading to bears to seek out human sources of food, rather than eating natural foods. This behavior ultimately leads to bears being lethally removed from the population because of these interactions with unsecured human food and waste.
Bear resistant garbage cans are one of the easiest way to prevent bears from getting a free meal. For Flathead Reservation residents who self-haul their garbage to container sites, we offer one Kodiak Bear Resistant Garbage Can per household for lease with a one-time payment of $20. If Republic Services picks up your trash, Kodiak cans can be leased for a small additional fee to your usual garbage hauling bill. Keeping your garbage inside the house or garage until the morning of garbage pick-up, or making weekly trips to the dump are both very helpful strategies to reduce bear-garbage conflicts.
Although they may seem safe, sheds do not serve as a secure place to store trash or feed, as bears can damage a shed if they smell food inside. Bringing bird feeders and pet food inside during the night and putting them out in the morning, or avoid feeding birds altogether during the summer months are also helpful actions that can be taken to reduce conflict in bear country. Store livestock feed in secure, enclosed structure or behind electrified fencing. Be sure to clean BBQ grills regularly and clean grease traps after use to reduce residual smells of cooked food.
It is also very important as a resident in bear country to discourage bears from becoming comfortable being in yards or near human dwellings. We love to see wildlife making their way through our property and often take pictures and videos of bears on our porches, however the proper response is to haze the bear as quickly as possible. Open a window and yell, bang pots and pans, blow an air horn, spray them with bear spray, or make some loud, audible noise to alert and scare the bear away as soon as possible. The Wildlife Program offers access to air horns, motion activated noise devices (Critter Gitters), and battery-operated radios that are all tools that can be used to prevent bears from being habituated to human presence. We also offer reduced-cost access to bear spray, where anyone who has purchased a CSKT Reservation Recreation permit can buy a can of bear spray for $20.
Why can’t we just trap and move all problem bears?
On the surface this seems like a good solution, however, it is only a temporary solution to a deeper issue. Removing one bear that has learned this behavior may resolve the issue momentarily, but if the attractant is not removed or secured, new bears (sometimes even only hours later) will find that same food source and learn the same behavior. The better long-term solution is be to prevent a bear’s first encounter with attractants and secure garbage, chickens and small livestock (sheep, goats, pigs).
Unprotected chicken coops are our #1 preventable reason for grizzly bear conflicts in the area. A study in the Mission Valley found that chicken coops and small livestock that were not protected by electrified fencing and night paddocks were 50% times more likely to have conflict with bears than coops and livestock protected with an electric fence.
The Tribal Wildlife Management Program is passionate about reducing the risk of conflict by reducing a bear’s access to attractants. When responding to bear conflict calls, it is our primary focus to help residents identify possible attractants around their homes and provide long-term solutions to preventing conflict. With limited staffing and resources, trapping and relocating every “problem bear” is not feasible. As residents who share this area with the wildlife, we can do our part to reduce the risk of conflict by slightly altering how we deal with garbage and other common attractants. With no positive food reward and hazing bears from being in yards, bears will move through the area quietly and without conflict.
Unfortunately, if neighbors have unsecured trash or small livestock, the problem may just shift from your yard to a neighbors. These efforts take community involvement, and our wildlife program has informational handouts that can be shared with neighbors and family on how to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Contact us by emailing Wildlife@cskt.org or visiting our office at 408 6th Ave East in Polson for information or brochures.
If you have attempted to identify and secure your attractants and are still experiencing issues, or if you would like consultation on electric fencing as a solution please call the wildlife conflict call line at 406-275-2774.
Elizabeth