Dear neighbors,
We continue to have bear activity in the neighborhood. There are two juvenile bears who appear to have been recently separated from their mother due to their age in our area. We have seen some behavior where they have approached houses & have even tried to unlatch a door to enter a home (unsuccessfully, thank goodness)! The neighbor impacted contacted WA State Fish & Wildlife to report the behavior & get suggestions on how to handle these bears. Please note that they were told that it is even more important than usual to be sure to remove food sources as these bears are figuring out now how to secure food & we do NOT want them to learn that people (& our neighborhood specifically) are a good source of food. As a reminder, here are the food sources to eliminate on your property:
- Garbage cans and just garbage in general outside (use bear-proof containers or put cans out on the morning of pick up, if possible)
- Bird feeders
- Cat or dog food bowls
If you are concerned about bears approaching your doors, it can be helpful to apply a thin coat of pine scent, tea tree oil, Lysol, pine sol, ammonia or cider vinegar to your doors. Finally, if confronted, bears don’t respond to yelling as much as paint ball guns or air horns. Hold your ground and stand tall then slowly walk backwards.
We are hoping you find this info from WA State Fish & Wildlife helpful & we thank our neighbors who called for sharing it with us.
Your Broadhurst HOA Board of Directors
