With the warm-up this March, spring arrived early in central and northern Minnesota and it seems summer is just around the corner. Ice had melted on the rivers, lake-ice was disappearing fast, the robins and bluebirds are back, the first frogs are singing in the marshes and some bears have emerged several weeks earlier than normal from their dens.

The black bear is a symbol of the north woods. However, for some people this image quickly vanishes with tipped over garbage cans and smashed bird feeders.

Each year the DNR receives numerous calls about black bear and human conflicts. As more people build homes and cabins and vacation in northern Minnesota, the number of conflicts has increased.

“Bears will take advantage of anything that looks, smells or tastes like food,” said Beau Liddell, area wildlife manager at Little Falls. “A bear must eat six or seven months of the year to survive the remainder of the year. During the spring and summer months, you could say that a bear thinks with his stomach.” “Home and cabin owners, campers, hikers and others vacationing in northern and central Minnesota share in the responsibility of preventing problems with bears,” stated Liddell. “Most bear problems can be prevented through good housekeeping. In other words, the best way to avoid problems is not to attract bears in the first place.”

To prevent bear problems, Liddell suggests several options:

o Keep garbage indoors until pickup day. If you have a cabin, consider bringing the garbage home with you if you will not be at your cabin on pickup day.

o Keep barbeque grills indoors when not in use or clean thoroughly after each use.

o Keep pet foods inside.

o Avoid using bird feeders in the spring and summer. Birds find other natural foods which are abundant at this time of year and don’t need to be fed. If you feel you must continue to feed the birds in the spring and summer, remove feeders every day before dark, cleanup any food left on the ground and place feeders out of reach of bears if possible. Rigging a pulley system to get feeders at least 10 feet off the ground and 10 feet away from trees or poles may be effective at keeping bears out of feeders and provide a way to refill them. Plant flowers that attract hummingbirds but not bears. Dusting sites and bird baths are alternative ways of attracting birds that will not attract bears.

“Many people become frightened and call the DNR when a bear walks through their yard,” said Liddell. “Bears can be curious and often will cover large areas in search of food. Simply seeing a bear is not necessarily a problem.”

If a bear walks into your yard, or you inadvertently encounter a bear while outside the DNR suggests the following action:

o Don’t panic, shoot or approach the bear.

o Always leave the bear an escape route.

o Have people leave the area and remove your dog. Go inside until the bear leaves.

o If the bear is treed, leave it alone.

o If no food sources are present, the bear will usually leave.

“Some people assume that the DNR will trap and relocate all problem bears,” stated Liddell. “Trapping and relocation has not proven to be effective. Persistent problem bears that are trapped (with less than 50 percent success in capturing the offending bear) are killed, but the DNR will trap only after all other options are exhausted (including concerted efforts to clean up food sources) and the bear fails to move on.”

Once a bear relates humans to food sources, the bear may continue to be a problem. It’s crucial that all neighbors in the area comply with removal of bird feeders, pet food, garbage and livestock carcasses.”

“People should always be cautious around bears,” stated Liddell. “If you have persistent bear problems after removing (for 10- 14 days ) the food sources attracting bears (including removal of food sources from all neighboring properties), contact your DNR area wildlife office for assistance.”