How being BearWise protects You and Bears

A bear on the back porch, a bear in the trash, or a bear destroying a bird feeder are all relatively minor situations and almost all could be avoided by Becoming BearWise, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD).  One of the six BearWise Basics is about securing food, garbage, and recycling. When bears have access to human-provided foods, regardless of the source or the intent, they will take advantage of them, and that often leads to further problems.  A bear that repeatedly finds food from garbage cans, bird feeders, and pet food bowls is unlikely to leave and will become bolder in its search for easy food. This leads to potential property damage of homes, garages, vehicles, and more. Once bears have learned bad habits and have come to rely on people for a “free meal,” they never change those behaviors, and this type of behavior progressively gets worse with time and experience. If you really care about bears, please make the extra effort to ensure that your home and yard are “unattractive” to bears in order to protect yourself, your family and pets, and bears.  BearWise is an education program developed by bear biologists from each of the 15 state wildlife agencies that make up the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA). The program, anchored by the website www.bearwise.org, offers citizen specific, detailed, and high-quality information to help people live responsibly with bears and to keep bears wild.