Problems caused by Bears
If you have a bear pest problem, you have a very big problem, in every sense of the word. For such a large animal, bears can be very hard to control and outside of sprawling urban metropolises black bears cause problems in almost every state in the country. If you have bears around, here are some of the areas in which bears cause problems that you can expect if you don’t exercise sound integrated pest management strategies.
* Threats. One of the biggest problems with bears is that they are immensely powerful and in areas where they are used to humans or unfamiliar with humans as a possible threat, they can be very dangerous. Bears know that their size makes them king, and although most of the time they don’t throw their weight around direct conflicts between humans and bears never end in favour of the humans. They are especially aggressive when they have babies with them, and black bears are also known for predatory behaviour, making them a serious threat to children in particular. And of course if a bear feels threatened, it poses the greatest danger of any common pest.
* Destruction. Bears are very strong, and can get into just about any area they want to if they think there is food inside. No garbage can is a match for the power of a bear, and they have also been known to break down doors and through car windows after smelling something inside. One bear can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage.
* Garden, crop, and landscaping consumption. Bears are voracious eaters and will consume anything that they can find. A bear getting into your garden means that you can kiss all the work you have done goodbye. They are also very attracted to fruit trees in season; they can haul down lower branches that are laden with fruit, and may strip them of leaves or break them off as they take advantage of your generous, unintentional offer. They will also obliterate berry bushes and canes in a matter of minutes, which can mean the destruction of years of cultivation. Bears also pose a significant problem when it comes to crops, as they see them pretty much as huge buffets.
Outside of the very obvious danger they pose to humans, bear problems are pretty typical of those caused by most pests. The problem with bears is that they wreak havoc on a much larger scale than any other type of pest, and in far fewer numbers. They can also be very hard to control, because they love to wander and will often be dozens of miles away before a home owner realizes they have been at work in a yard or garden. The best pest management strategy by far is prevention, something we will look at in more detail in another article.