How To Easily Bear-Proof Your Bird Feeder

As lovely as they can be, bird feeders can bring plenty of nuisances to your yard, inviting plenty of non-bird visitors. For instance, feeders attract deer that will tear up your garden, and often, squirrels might steal and eat all of your bird seed, but these creatures are mostly harmless. However, feeders also attract bears. While bears will generally don't want to attack you, they have a frightening presence, and occasionally attack people when they feel threatened. Even if you're not personally afraid of bears, they can be a threat to your pets and neighbors. They can also just cause damage to your property by knocking down fences and even breaking into houses. These types of problems can get even worse in the fall while bears are trying to stock up on food before winter. All of this may make you reconsider hanging a feeder if you live in bear country, but really, you just need to bear-proof your feeder. 

Bears have a strong olfactory sense. Some say that their sense of smell is considerably stronger than even bloodhounds, a breed that is famous for its discerning nose. There isn't a good way to conceal this smell, but you can try replacing your current bird feed with a type that bears don't like. For instance, bears don't like the bitter taste of safflower seed. You can also put chili powder in your bird feed, which will irritate the bears but won't bother the birds.

You can also protect your bird feeder by elevating it. Bears probably won't be able to reach your feeder if it's at least 10 or 15 feet off the ground. The trouble with this method is that you won't be able to reach it either, and you probably don't want to climb a ladder every few days to change the feed. One simple solution is to rig a pulley system to a tree branch that will allow you to raise and lower your feeder from the safety of the ground. Just make sure that the pulley is attached a few feet out on the branch because bears are good climbers.

To keep bears out of your yard, remove possible food sources altogether, and consider moving your bird feeder inside at night if bears are coming around during those hours. This isn't a perfect solution, because it's inconvenient and won't fix the problem while you are out of town (unless you're okay with your birds going several days without their feed), but can reduce risk. You can also use motion-activated sprinklers to scare bears off.

If bears are coming around your property fairly often, you should consider calling an animal control service to take care of the problem. You should never confront bears yourself, because any type of bear can charge you. If bears are encroaching onto your neighborhood or rural property, it might be useful to purchase an air horn or bear spray for personal protection. You should also do some research on what to do if you're attacked by a bear, just in case.