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All Deterrents Articles
Despite our best efforts to bear-proof our homes, businesses, communities and campsites, sometimes they show up anyways. When they do, there are several ways to warn you of their presence, keep them from receiving unwanted food rewards or actively teach them where they're not wanted
Staying Safe in Bear Country, Working in Bear Country and Living in Bear Country provide important information to help reduce human injuries and property damage from grizzly and black bears throughout North America while also reducing unnecessary bear deaths.
The black bear supplemental feeding program successfully deterred bears from damaging trees. In addition to Washington State and Oregon, ADCP pellets were used since 2003 in Asia, Prefecture of Gunma, and Japan (B. Kamiyama, Kiryu, Japan, personal communication). Forest managers in Croatia, Europe, produced their own pellets, using the ADCP formula, since 2002 (D. Huber, University of Zagreb, Croatia, personal communication). Supplemental feeding also stimulated an international discussion about the pros and cons of the program and the implications for forest management. All age classes and gender of bears, including female bears with cubs, fed on the pellets. Although large bears did not dominate feeding stations, they did mark and destroy some trees to attract females during the mating season in early summer. This behavior was not an economic problem and did not trigger control action. The supplemental feeding program had no influence on the home ranges of bears throughout the year, but it did during a 2.5- month period in the spring when supplemental food was provided. The ADCP had no reports of conflicts between bears and feeding personnel. The reproductive success among fed and nonfed bears was similar.
Expert research in Alaska finds that a few ounces of pepper spray are just as effective as a gun in an aggressive encounter.
This is a comprehensive look at bear spray incidents that occurred in Alaska, USA, from 1985 to 2006. The authors analyzed 83 bear spray incidents involving brown bears (Ursus arctos; 61 cases, 74%), black bears (Ursus americanus; 20 cases, 24%), and polar bears (Ursus maritimus; 2 cases, 2%). Of the 72 cases where persons sprayed bears to defend themselves, red pepper spray stopped bears’ undesirable behavior 92% of the time when used on brown bears, 90% for black bears, and 100% for polar bears. Bear spray represents an effective alternative to lethal force and should be considered as an option for personal safety for those recreating and working in bear country. (JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 72(3):640–645; 2008)
Jay Honeyman evaluated the effectiveness of aversive conditioning (AC) as a non-lethal management technique to reduce bear-human conflict, and ultimately reduce bear mortality. The conclusion? AC is an effective management tool to reduce human conflicts with grizzly bears and promote bear population stability.
To develop a proactive program for reducing human-bear conflicts in communities that emphasizes educating the public about bear ecology, eliminating food attractants for bears, providing enforcement options and non-lethal methods for resolving conflicts.
No deterrent is 100% effective, but compared to all others, including firearms, proper use of bear spray has proven to be the best method for fending off threatening and attacking bears, and for preventing injury to the person and animal involved.
Eugene Fytche, a retired engineer, has owned a commercial sheep flock near Ottawa, Ontario, for over twenty years. His own problems with coyotes led him to conduct extensive research into predator damage for the Ontario Sheep marketing Agency and the Ontario Cattlemen Association. This book was released as a direct result of that research. May Safely Graze focuses on protecting sheep, cattle and goats from predators, particularly coyotes and wolves, and has had a wide circulation in Canada and the US.
This paper analyzes the effectiveness of pepper spray for field use. Sprays containing capsicum appear to be potentially useful in a variety of field situations: however, variable responses by bears occur. Because the database is composed of diverse field records, the results should be viewed with caution.
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