[Newsbot]

Title: Port Coquitlam, B.C., homeowners must bear-proof garbage
Category: Environmental
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2009-07-14 22:45:27
Canadian

[Choban]

I'm surprised this wasn't already a bylaw

[Praxius]

$1:

Starting Aug. 4, all residents in "designated enforcement areas" will have two options: keep their garbage bins in a garage or shed, or keep them in special bins with a bear-resistant lock. Those with regular bins will only be allowed to take out the trash between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m. on collection day.

Putting them in a shed isn't going to do anything except give the bears the experience of breaking into man made buildings. I know this because my grandparents' camp out on the lake had been broken into several times in the past by bears going through windows or doors, locked or unlocked.

Want a very simple solution?

Get a fishnet or similar and toss it over top of the bins. Folks arund the lake and my grandparents shortly after the last bear raid started doing this after they leave the camp for the weekend or however long (they're a fishing community, so they got plenty of fish nets) and haven't had any bear issues since (almost a decade now since the last break in)

Apparently the bear comes along, smells the food inside but once they see the net, figure it's a trap and venture off to the next camp that doesn't have them up and breaks into that one. They've been spotted checking out the nets and staying clear of them, then looking for other windows or doors that don't have them... if nets are on all accesses, they walk away and figure it's not worth the trouble.

Simple, yet effective.... and cheap. I first thought it was a silly idea, but the last bear raid on the camp that I remember I was still in Jr. High. Must be doing something. I also suspect their paws arn't all that able to manage a net without getting all screwed up in it.

Just keeping them in a shed will simply give them a hobby to figure out and then chances are, your house is next.

I've seen plenty of them fancy garbage bins around where they are supposed to be able to keep animals out of, yet seem to be knocked over and cleaned out by raccoons all the time like any other bin. Kinda makes me wonder how good they are against a bear.

[Brenda]

It's worth a shot, isn't it! I never heard of it, but hey, wtf do I know

[Praxius]

Brenda Brenda:

It's worth a shot, isn't it! I never heard of it, but hey, wtf do I know

True, I ain't claiming to be an expert on bear behavior or anything, but just based on observations, it's an idea to try.

Here in local news, there's an issue with bears in a local community. They have bear traps set up all over the place with bait, yet for a number of days, no bears have been caught.

Must be getting smarter then the average bear these days.

[sandorski]

Time to rig a Claymore to the Lid.

[Praxius]

sandorski sandorski:

Time to rig a Claymore to the Lid.

lol... I can imagine the headlines now:

"Bomb planted by terrorists in garbage bin, two killed, several injured when garbage man came to do his runs."

[poquas]

I’ve heard the net thing before and I have family that will attest to the fact it didn’t work.

They have a place up the coast, and a neighbour suggested the same thing after having their wooden garbage shed destroyed twice. In the first case the net was left lying on the ground. The second time the net disappeared. We figured the bear was using it to catch Salmon.

They eventually bought one of those heavy steel containers and even then it got bounced thirty feet across the yard. Once it got bolted to a concrete base the bears gave up.

I think we’ve got more determined bears out here.