Holy MOSES! A black bear!

[weldredge]

Where? Harvard Massachusetts, at our bird feeders appx 10 feet from the french doors in our bedroom!!! When? This morning, 5:18 a.m.

Not sure I've ever seen my husband move so quickly...he sort of rolled over in bed and saw movement at the feeder...then it hit him! BEAR!
The hive is about 75 feet from the bird feeders. Are we in for trouble?? If we take in the bird feeders, will he be back anyhow? Anyone use electric fences?

THe scent of our 2 dogs did not deter him/her. He/she looked like a yearling to me. Pretty well destroyed my newest bird feeder. Wish I had gotten a picture. He/she sat on out back hill about 30 feet from the kitchen for a few minutes so I got to watch him/her lick his chops for a bit...dreaming of HONEY no doubt!!!

We have a home in northern NH and have had black bear nuisance issues at our condo complex dumpster. Nothing discourages them up there.

Ideas??? :confused::confused::confused:

[JPK1NH]

Where? Harvard Massachusetts, at our bird feeders appx 10 feet from the french doors in our bedroom!!! When? This morning, 5:18 a.m.

Not sure I've ever seen my husband move so quickly...he sort of rolled over in bed and saw movement at the feeder...then it hit him! BEAR!
The hive is about 75 feet from the bird feeders. Are we in for trouble?? If we take in the bird feeders, will he be back anyhow? Anyone use electric fences?

THe scent of our 2 dogs did not deter him/her. He/she looked like a yearling to me. Pretty well destroyed my newest bird feeder. Wish I had gotten a picture. He/she sat on out back hill about 30 feet from the kitchen for a few minutes so I got to watch him/her lick his chops for a bit...dreaming of HONEY no doubt!!!

We have a home in northern NH and have had black bear nuisance issues at our condo complex dumpster. Nothing discourages them up there.

Ideas??? :confused::confused::confused:

Well, living in the Peoples Republic of Mass pretty thoroughly limits your response within the law....that bear is likely "Protected".....(see "Criminal" in the legal code of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.)

Hmmmm...Pepper Spray? I think thats illegal.

errrr...Firearms.....yea....not bloody likely in the Cradle of Liberty without a lengthy process of begging the commonwealth for permission (and paying an exorbitant fee for an FID or LTC).

Electric Fence.....likely requires several lengthy permitting processes and fees (local and state)....the state after all has to increase revenues to pay for Teddy Kennedy's recent surgery.

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfw_bear_problem_faqs.htm

Mass Wildlife Contact Info

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwdistr.htm

Please forgive some of my jabs about "Cuba on the North Atlantic" but you are likely VERY limited in how you can respond legally.....the closer to Boston you get the nuttier the code becomes and the greater the legal burden/consequences are for you to actually defend yourself and your property.

Honestlly, being in Harvard I would be sure to check local code but an electric fence is probably your only option.

A unit like this DC one http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_36002_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1

along with a deep cycle marine battery and a decent sized solar panel regarger will give you better than 8000 volts at the wire which is quite a shock...bait the wire and boo boo will learn all about electricity through his rather sensitive tongue and will hopefully stay away from it after one experience.

If you have easy access to a power outlet then consider an AC unit and eliminate the battery and solar panel.

[deknow]

hi wendy, how exciting!

the bear will likely come back..and will likely go after the hive eventually.

the best bet is an electric fence, and it's not a huge deal to put one up.

you will need "t posts" and matching insulators. the t posts go in pretty easily, and with a little creativity, the regular insulators work fine for the corners as well.

you then wire the fence along the insulators. put in a "ground spike" (i big copper wire you bang into the ground).

you will need a "fencer" or "fence charger". you might be able to wire one up to your house current, or just go with a battery powered one (this is what we use), or solar.

this isn't "free", but it's not too expensive either....less than $200...2 people can do all this in under 2 hours.

you will need to bait the fence also (so that the bear is attracted to the bait and nibbles it, getting a shock, before deciding to go whole hog through the fence). you can use raw bacon strips (we did that last year), or, what we did this year was to use small strips of cloth that we then smeared with chicken fat.

if you need help/advice, feel free to call me on my cell phone:
978 257 5324 ....leave a msg and i'll get back to you. ramona is giving a recitial this morning, but we can probably help this afternoon if need be.

deknow

[alpha6]

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/facts/mammals/bear/black_bear_home.htm

Click on the frequently asked questions link or here:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/facts/mammals/bear/black_bear_problem_faq.htm

You may be able to get a fence for free to start with as a loner.

"Field-tested designs and general suggestions are available from several sources, including MassWildlife District offices. District offices within bear range have sample electric fences which can be loaned for a 1-month period."

Good luck. Here in the Rockies we deal with them quite a bit.

"Loolie thar kids...thars a barr in dem woods" ;)

[deknow]

oh, you will also need a gate....get "gate handles" (plastic insulated handles that you use as a gate)...one for each strand (3 or 4).

deknow

[bleta12]

It is illegal to shoot a black bear in Connecticut too. There are more than 300 bears here that are seen often on peoples back yards in bird feeders and bee hives.
My sons field day was interrupted because of the close presence of a black bear on the area.

Few days ago, Hartford Currant reported that a 83 year old shot and killed a black bear in northern CT after the bear had destroyed bird seed feeder.
The police was called, the man arrested and facing 60 days in jail and a fine.
The reaction of the people in the a radio program was almost all pro bear and against the old man.
I would personally like to "kiss" that hand that pulled that trigger.

I believe that peoples love with the black bear will last till will have a unfortunate bear attack of fatalities on humans, then we will wake up.
The state authorities don't care about the loss of beehives. They try to relocate and tag those "problem bears", which show up back in few days.

There is a movement to make the bear hunting legal here but there is not enough political will.
We beekeepers are left alone to defend our beehives. If anything unfortunate may happen to the beers that destroy our property, the best think is to keep it quiet.

[weldredge]

Thanks for all the info. I would NEVER ever ever hurt a bear, unless our physical safety was threatened. My daughters are both rated marksman and could certainly protect any valid threat, but again, I was not looking to be hurting our furry friend...only deter him from having a hearty honey meal. Living in the country is about partnership with our surroundings and I believe we have to share. I happily share the bird seed, but again, my bees are another story. THis is only our 2nd season and we are so thrilled (and sort of proud!) to see them thriving! I will be off to the farm store to get an electric fence to give that a try. I have been warned that since mr furry came this morning to have breakfast, he would most likely be back. (thanks Dean!!!) If that happens, my shock will be somewhat less and my camera will be at the ready.

By the way, Harvard sportsman club has a fantastic youth riflery program which my kids are involved in. Great skills to have...even if you will never hunt (and I doubt my daughters ever would)...its about concentration and focus and stewardship of our land. This seal of approval and commercial is coming from a mom who never even HELD a gun, by the way!

[JPK1NH]

I would personally like to "kiss" that hand that pulled that trigger.

I believe that peoples love with the black bear will last till will have a unfortunate bear attack of fatalities on humans, then we will wake up.


The problem is that such encounters usually only wake up the individual that is on the receiving end of said encounter and the rest of the population ignores it in part because main stream media chooses not to report it or puts a spin on it instead of reporting the facts.

The other problem is that so many of these same people are suffering from persistent cranio-rectal intrusion syndrome for which there is no known cure.

For beeks up in NH you should know that you DO have the right to defend yourself, livestock (incl bees) from bears using force...that includes eliminating the bear if he's doing the nasty to your hives or has entered your apiary (gone through the fence etc)....just be sure to call fish and game to report it within 12 hours (apparently) and they will deal with it.

Use every effort to use common sense and take precausions to discourage them by putting up an electric fence, don't leave garbage out etc.....

The relevant statutes are here http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xviii/207/207-mrg.htm see 207:26 and 207:30 in particular.

[weldredge]

Would you believe at our place in NH I have actually seen tourists sitting at dumpsters throwing marshmallows at the bears to try to lure them closer? Persistent cranio rectal instrusion indeed...These are folks on foot...children in strollers etc. My husband likes to recall Darwin at moments like those.

[JPK1NH]

Would you believe at our place in NH I have actually seen tourists sitting at dumpsters throwing marshmallows at the bears to try to lure them closer? Persistent cranio rectal instrusion indeed...These are folks on foot...children in strollers etc. My husband likes to recall Darwin at moments like those.

The sad part about it is that the stupidity of these folks ends up causing problems because the stupid tour-ons teach the bear bad behavior and ultimately you and I lose and the bear needs to be destroyed because they are then a nuisance/danger.....I ALMOST wish that a few of them would become Darwin Awards winners and remove themselves from the gene pool......personally I would argue that a whole lot more natural selection is needed in and around the vicinity of your primary residence (Harvard/Cambridge area....it sure seems to be a "Common Sense Free Zone)

[Steve717]

I used to live in the Charlotte, NC area and every summer adolescent black bears would wander down from the North Carolina Mountains 75 miles northwest. Their presence and the nuisance they presented would be covered by the news media. By September they would disappear, probably wandering back into the mountains. These bears would cross interstate highways and end up in suburbia.

Maybe your bear will disappear in a few months.

[honeyshack]

Make sure you have a good long ground rod. We just put a 6' in the ground. The longer the better. Two feet not good enough.
The reason is you need a good charge for predator fence. 5000 V is adequate for predator control. Anything less and they will go right through it. Get a fencer tester to chech the volts. It's cheap an painless to do. Stick a small ground rod in the ground and attach to the wire. The lights will flash where the volts are. I think we paid 15.00 for ours.
We string alot of fence for cattle and bee yards. If you go short on the ground rod, you loose the juice.

[bigeddie]

Get a electric fence up NOW .I got wiped out by the black devils when I had a fencer go bad. I live in the woods in bear country and use 4 wires, it is on 24/7. It will be back,so get a good fence up or use the s.s.s method(shoot,shovel,shutup) I don't use bacon on the wire and have never had a bear get in when the fencer was working.
The bear like honey but LOVE brood. If it comes back and you don't have a fence up you will have a big pile of junk when it leaves.

Good luck,
Eddie

[weldredge]

WE ARE PUTTING THE ELECTRIC FENCE IN NOW!!! Sorry to yell, but I am so darned excited! I think I will actually sleep tonight knowing the girls are all safe. I think Mr. furry will be back tomorrow morning cause our bird seed is so darned good. Thank you all for the feedback advice and ideas. Will let you know how it goes tonight. Thanks especially for the info on the ground rods...will pass that along to the boss. Of course it has to be 95 and humid and in the direct sun for this installation...yesterday was 50's and rainy...gotta love new england...

Oh, really ponied up the cash and bought the solar one. I guess we are really in this for the long haul now!

Who says living in the country is boring???

[mike haney]

if the earth is hard and dry and the bee yard small the best ground is chicken wire stapled down for the critter to stand on when he gets to the fence. this will sometimes knock a goat unconcious so keep the kiddos clear. good luck,mike

[jim 134]

MassWildlife say we have about 3,000 bears in Mass. put up and electric fence !!!


Jim 134

[JPK1NH]

WE ARE PUTTING THE ELECTRIC FENCE IN NOW!!! Sorry to yell, but I am so darned excited! I think I will actually sleep tonight knowing the girls are all safe. I think Mr. furry will be back tomorrow morning cause our bird seed is so darned good. Thank you all for the feedback advice and ideas. Will let you know how it goes tonight. Thanks especially for the info on the ground rods...will pass that along to the boss. Of course it has to be 95 and humid and in the direct sun for this installation...yesterday was 50's and rainy...gotta love new england...

Oh, really ponied up the cash and bought the solar one. I guess we are really in this for the long haul now!

Who says living in the country is boring???

Which one did you buy?

If its not putting out 5000 volts its not going to do squat.....4000 volts and you can grab the grounding rod and tape/wire and hang on without much discomfort.....over 5k it gets more interesting.

[weldredge]

hmm don't know the strength...will ask when the husband gets home from teenager driving duty. I do know it was the most expensive at Agway. Im am hoping he finds a better snacking spot tonight!

:)

[weldredge]

Sunday Update:

No bear today or last night...electric fence is not quite operable, but my technical advisor tells me that we will be on line by this afternoon.

Camera is at the ready just in case!

[honeyshack]

when you bought your fencer did you buy a wire tester to test the strength of the jolt? This would be a good idea so that you know what you have and what you need to do to get what you need. they are inexpensive and a good investment.
No matter how expensive the fencer is, the ground rod is most important. It's the deciding factor whether you get 5000v or not. Without that, it's money down the drain. We just bought several fencers, solar, the co-op brand for 149.00 on sale, regular 199. They work just as well as say the gallager fencers for 3x as much.
When we put the rod in the ground, it was really dry and hard ground, took a great deal of work on the husbands part.
If you use wood posts you need insulators as well. The reason is especially if they are treated posts, the post will absorb the shock and reduce the fencers conductivity. This includes the corners...get the insulated donuts.

[weldredge]

We do not have a tester yet because the farm store did not have one in stock. My technical advisor (aka My husband) will be picking one up after work tomorrow. I have an all call out to my agrarian neighbors to see if anyone has one just in case. We used some old T posts from our hen house and got these clever insulators that clip right on to them.

My husband is an engineer who builds the equipment for steel mill rolling and we had some re-bar lying around, so he used that as our ground.

Again, no visit today or last night...so perhaps he has found better yummies down the road!

Thank you all!

[honeyshack]

Just asked my husband and he said, need to clean off the rebar with a grinder or what have you where the ground wire will attach and ground out a point on the other end to assist in getting it into the ground

good luck

[weldredge]

That is exactly what he did with the rebar! Thanks again...

[deknow]

see wendy, this is why it's a good idea to keep some teenaged "fence testers" around :)...just hang the cell phone from the fence.....

deknow

[hankdog1]

It is illegal to shoot a black bear in Connecticut too. There are more than 300 bears here that are seen often on peoples back yards in bird feeders and bee hives.
My sons field day was interrupted because of the close presence of a black bear on the area.

Few days ago, Hartford Currant reported that a 83 year old shot and killed a black bear in northern CT after the bear had destroyed bird seed feeder.
The police was called, the man arrested and facing 60 days in jail and a fine.
The reaction of the people in the a radio program was almost all pro bear and against the old man.
I would personally like to "kiss" that hand that pulled that trigger.

I believe that peoples love with the black bear will last till will have a unfortunate bear attack of fatalities on humans, then we will wake up.
The state authorities don't care about the loss of beehives. They try to relocate and tag those "problem bears", which show up back in few days.

There is a movement to make the bear hunting legal here but there is not enough political will.
We beekeepers are left alone to defend our beehives. If anything unfortunate may happen to the beers that destroy our property, the best think is to keep it quiet.

Can't you get a kill permit i know down here in Virginia they offer kill permits for distuctive animals they even have exterminators that kill deer for a living that distory crops and people's shrubs. If there is a law i'd get a crossbow and plug that puppy and haul it off and keep my mouth shut though.

[weldredge]

I am not interested in hurting (beyond a sharp jolt to his/her nose or tongue) our bear. They were here long before us and I am happy to share our space...just not my bees/brood or honey.

No idea about the legality of bear shooting in Massachusetts, but I will ask around at the gun club when I take my kids on Tuesday for their lesson.

We do allow an aquaintance to hunt deer on our property in season with a bow. We have 5 acres in heavy duty deer country...and deer tick country.

So...silly question...beestings do not deter the bears???

[JPK1NH]

I am not interested in hurting (beyond a sharp jolt to his/her nose or tongue) our bear. They were here long before us and I am happy to share our space...just not my bees/brood or honey.

No idea about the legality of bear shooting in Massachusetts, but I will ask around at the gun club when I take my kids on Tuesday for their lesson.

We do allow an aquaintance to hunt deer on our property in season with a bow. We have 5 acres in heavy duty deer country...and deer tick country.

So...silly question...beestings do not deter the bears???

The only thing that stops a bear is something painful enough to over-ride their hunger for Honey/Brood......you want a fence that will leave that bears whiskers smouldering the FIRST time so they don't continually test it and get used to the shock......once that happens your hives are bear food.

[Aram]

I do believe bears mind being stung. But the reward of the high protein brood is just too great to stay away. Bears will tumble strapped hives once. If they don't open them the first time they will never bother them again. They'll walk right by the hive and leave them alone. (Seasoned bears will easily turn a strapped hive into tooth pics though. So it's not a foolproof system.) I'd try strapping the hives in addition to the fence line.
Definitely put all the feeders away until late November. I know it's nice seeing the birds but it's summer, the birds don't need it and the bear will always be back until there's none left. (Bears are wild, beautiful animals who belong in the woods, not in trash cans and bird feeders. Even if you didn't mind the destroyed bird feeders and property damage some neighbor might. And they might not share your fuzzy feelings towards the marauder. Too much grief for everyone involved.) Also, make sure there is no dog/cat/chicken food in the open or trash cans left unsecured. If the feed source is gone the bear will move on.

[deknow]

...i find it difficult to consider a bear living in the "country" that raids backyards for birdfeeders "destructive". you might as well put bear bait out.

deknow

[dmacmtb]

I'd probably take the bird feeders in at night even if you have a fence that would keep them away from the hives. Bears showed up recently at my place and came to find out I had neighbors nearby who had been "feeding" them with their bird feeders consistently in addition to other neighbors flat out feeding them. Not good for the bears to train them to hang out near us humans.

-dmacmtb

[Eyeshooter]

Living in the woods means living with the animals. Living in New England helps give us the common sense that you don't have to always kill them to do so. Leaving feeders out at night when you know there is a bear in the area is the same as putting the turkey on the table for Thanksgiving dinner with a house full of hungry guests.

We had a large (as in 375-400 lb) black bear show up a couple of weeks before we installed our 2 packages. I already had an electric fence up (www.wellscroft.com/fence/fenceHome.html) and baited with bacon and peanut butter covered with bird seed. Since the visit I go out every night and bring in 3 feeders. Not perfect as the bear could still come in for the droppings but my wife really wants to keep feeding the birds. Haven't seen the big guy since that night and hope I don't see him again.

You have the right attitude Ms Weldredge! You and your husband seem content to share the space with the furry one, to teach your children to be proficient and respect firearms and to make sure your ladies are safe. Sounds like good sense to me!