The number of bears getting into trash and having close encounters with people or their pets is increasing, said Chadd Yoder, Wrangell’s state wildlife trooper. And it’s likely to get worse before it gets better, he said, as bears try to fatten up before winter hibernation.
Bears accustomed to searching garbage for food can become a serious issue, Yoder said, and he wants to educate people on what they can do to keep bears out of their backyards.
The real hot spot for bears getting into trash is between 5-mile and 10-mile Zimovia Highway, he said, particularly around Shoemaker Bay. No person has been hurt, he said, but one bear has been shot and another reportedly made threatening sounds toward a person before being scared off.
“We’re trying to minimize these encounters,” Yoder said. “The tough part is once a bear is habituated to food, it’s hard to change its mind.”
The first piece of advice is for people to try and secure their trash cans. Most cans around Wrangell do not have bear locks on them, he said, but people can use rachet-strap tie-downs to help secure the lid to the can.
He also advised, for example, that if somebody has a chicken dinner, they freeze the leftovers and only throw them out the night before trash day. And people could keep their trash cans, or anything else a bear would likely find interesting, either secured or indoors until pickup day.
“The other things would be like bird feeders and dog food around the house,” Yoder said. “I got one report of somebody’s freezer getting broken into, but their freezer was on the porch. Freezers should be secured, if on the porch, but it would be better if it were stored inside.”
Bear activity will drop off when winter sets in and the bruins go to sleep, but Yoder said people should remember the tips for next year, too.
“It’s Alaska. Rural Alaska. There’s bears,” he said. “We need to learn how to tighten up our game as a community. That way we’re doing what we can to prevent there being a problem, and there being a bear habituated to human food. When one does become a problem, we’ll deal with it. … The emphasis here is if a bear would get into your trash and would have to be shot, you could be cited for feeding game. That’s not the route I want to go, so I’m just trying to spread the word.”
Yoder said he has flyers from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game outlining bear-proofing tips. These, and stickers, can be picked up at the information holder near his office in the Kadin Building on Front Street.
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