Bear Repellents
Bears have an incredible sense of smell that enables them to detect odours from up to a mile away from the source. They spend a good portion of their day searching for food: and if non-natural food sources are readily available at your residence bears are likely to visit.
Bears will be enticed to your property or commercial establishment by improperly managed garbage and/or attractants. It is imperative that any garbage and attractant issues are addressed otherwise bears will continue to frequent your location in search of food. There are a myriad of attractants that can result in a bear/s visiting your location. Visit our, “Managing Garbage and Attractant” page for a list of these items: https://www.scbearalliance.com/making-your-home-bear-proof
There are some conservative measures you can begin with if you must store your garbage and compost outdoors. Bears tip over bins to access your garbage. By chaining your bins to a stationary object you can make it more difficult for a bear to tip them over in an attempt to obtain the contents.
Spraying garbage and compost bins with Pine-Sol (original scent only) may be effective at repelling a curious bear from accessing your bins. You can also use ammonia or bleach to clean out your bins. Pine-Sol. ammonia and bleach are all toxic to pets: do not leave these chemicals in an open container.
** NEVER MIX AMMONIA AND BLEACH! THIS CREATES A TOXIC, POTENTIALLY FATAL GAS.
BEAR DETERRENTS around your home
Black bears are very intelligent and innately timid. They ususally respond well to the tone of the human voice but ocassionally bears can become somewhat more persistent in their explorations. In this event there are a number of measures you can use to deter the bear from your property. Bears are quick learners and have excellent memories. The aim with these methods is to give the bear a negative experience in relation to their search for food thereby teaching the bear that your home/property is not a location that offers an easy food reward.
Before using any of these measures always make sure the bear has a safe route to exit the area, otherwise your actions may be seen as an attack and the bear may then assume a defensive stance.
1) Do try using a firm voice to yell at the bear from a secure place inside your home as a first measure: “You go away bear,” or the like, clap your hands loudly.
2) Fill a soup can with pebbles and tape shut then shake, bang pots and pans, or if you have a large beach ball toss it at the bear, open and close an umbrella, or shake a garbage bag vigourously. You can also throw a small rock at the bear but only at the rump-never at the face or head.
3)Flap a large garbage bag up and down with upheld arms and yell at the bear to “GO AWAY!” This is a sound bears are unfamiliar with so it is very effective.
4) A Super Soaker water gun or garden hose can be used to squirt water at the bear’s face. Never use anything other than water to squirt at the bear.
5)The Scarecrow is a device that hooks up to your garden hose and is mounted in the ground. When the motion detector senses movement, the Scarecrow sprays a short burst of water and then resets itself.
6) The Rx Plus Barking Dog Alarm is an “Electronic Watchdog” that projects the sound of a barking dog.
7) The Critter Gitter detects animal movements up to 14 m away using passive infrared, body heat or mortion detection and then emits an ear piercing sound and flashing lights.
8) Bear Be Gone has been designed to resemble a garbage can. The bear receives a burst of bear spray when accessing the can.
9)Solar Nite Eyes is a device that deters nocturnal predators.
10) Electric Fencing is a relatively economical and simple way to secure your livestock, bees, apiaries, smokers, fruit trees and the like.
These commercial products are readily available on line.
We do not recommend the use of bear bangers as they are a fire hazard in dry conditions and can potentially cause harm to a bear.
