More birds, less bears!

We love our birds.... bears, not so much.
Feeding birds in the summer is enjoyable because the birds add interest, color, motion and music to our yards. However, there are several things bird lovers can do to reduce bear activity in the area other than “stop feeding the birds.” They are attracted to garbage, pet food, bird seed and BBQ grills that we leave outside.  Luckily, they are much more active at night than during the day; most of their raids on homes and cabins happen at night, which makes it easy to keep them out of trouble. 
 

• Don’t leave trash or garbage outside.
• Keep pet food inside
• Keep your BBQ grill clean and covered, or store it inside.
• Avoid bird seed that contains milo and other “fillers”.  Milo is generally not eaten by our birds, but is often a filler in inexpensive “wild bird mix.” It usually winds up on the ground under your feeders and will attract bears and raccoons at night, even if you take your feeders inside. Our Birdman’s Blend doesn’t have “fillers” and very little falls to the ground.
• Use a hot pepper seasoning mixed in with the bird seed like Coles Flaming Squirrel Seed Sauce. Birds will eat it but squirrels and bears don't like it.
• Use feeder trays attached to or under the feeders to catch spilled seed.
• Hang bird feeders on a wire between trees 8+ feet above the ground.
• Bring your bird feeders in at night if you feed your birds from the yard.
• Feed birds from a second story porch if there are no stairs to the ground.
• Hang your bird feeders under the eve of the roof. Squirrels won't get to the feeder also.

Stop by the store with your bear concerns and we should be able to
come up with birder solutions.

See a helpful video by For The Birds owner, Terry Allen, about minimizing things that attract bears to your yard below!
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