There are certain challenges that must be dealt with or they just blow up and get worse.
Handling garbage and other things that attract bears is critically important.
We call them problem bears – but in reality the problem is caused by the people and not the bears. Bears are hungry and if we put food out where they can get to it they will get into it.
Bear attractants must be managed.
Garbage should be stored in a secure building or bear-resistant container until collection day. Bins must be tightly closed too.
Use common sense – a pickup with a canopy isn’t a secure bear-resistant container.
Wash all bins that contain garbage. Used food containers being stored until recycling day should be cleaned.
If you cannot store garbage securely, freeze smelly items and add to the bin only on the morning of collection.
The key to a healthy compost is ensuring equal amounts of brown and green materials. Layer your greens, such as kitchen scraps and fresh grass clippings, with no more than 10 centimetres of browns, such as dried leaves, grasses, shredded newspaper and cardboard.
Do not add fish, meat, fat, oils, unwashed eggshells or any cooked food to compost piles.
Clean barbeques after use by burning off the grill entirely and remove and clean the grease trap after every use.
Never leave a cooler outside unless it has been thoroughly cleaned.
One thing that all these attractants have in common is that they are caused by humans – not by the bears.
The solution begins with us. If we mess up the results can be devastating – a bear that becomes habituated to domestic garbage may have to be destroyed.
– Boundary Creek Times