Help us keep bringing you the Adirondack information you value.
Email
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
What follows is a notice from the NYSDEC:
Due to number of residents still feeding birds and failing to secure their garbage, and the amount of nuisance bear activity in the Town of Lake George, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is shifting from an educational mode to an enforcement mode.
Residences with bird feeders and other bear attractants will be given a written warning. If they fail to heed the warning they will be issued a ticket that could result in a maximum penalty of $250 fine and 15 days in jail.
DEC regulation prohibits the indirect or incidental feeding of black bears. Avoid indirect or incidental feeding of black bears (and a written warning and ticket) residents and businesses should follow these directions:
· Eliminate or secure any material that may attract bears.
· Properly store and manage garbage
o Store garbage securely. Use bear resistant garbage containers with secure lids.
o Prevent garbage container overflow.
o Keep surrounding area clear of trash, no trash outside of container(s).
o Place garbage to the curb in the morning of pickup, not the night before.
· Do not feed animals outside
o Eliminate bird feeders and store food securely.
o Feed family pets indoors and store pet food securely.
· Prevent bears from obtaining human food.
o Clean food grills after every use and store securely.
o Keep refrigerators and freezers in a secure place.
o Coolers left outside may attract bears.
· Keep bears away from your house and property
o Install motion sensors that detect and repel bear with high-pitched sounds and flashing lights.
o Erect electric fencing.
Photo of Black Bear provided by DEC.
Related Stories
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor
Finally! Good move by the DEC.
This should also apply to the use of “lures” during hunt season; It’s still an attractant and elicits the same response as food.
Emerging from my kitchen porch in Keene Valley one morning last summer, I was greeted by a huge pile of bear poop by the steps. Being interested in such things, I examined it to see what the bear had been eating, and found a lot of wheat berries. How odd! I asked my BF, a hunter, where a bear might have found wheat, and he said that someone must have been setting it out as bait.
I suggested to a friend in Ausable Acres, where she said they’d had bear visitors, that instead of putting out their garbage can, they start taking the garbage to the dump themselves, so as to keep the garbage inside until ready to go, instead of putting it out the night before. She didn’t sound like they’d switch away from home pick-up, and last I’d heard, the bears were still visiting.