Due to this year’s severe drought conditions, natural food sources are more difficult to find in the wild sending local bears into town on a desperate search for calories. Unfortunately, many are finding an easy meal in neighborhood trash cans.
Bear-Proofing Solutions for Every Budget
Securing your garbage doesn’t have to be complicated or overly expensive. Consider these options:
- Ratchet Tie-Down Straps ~$20: A budget-friendly ratchet strap or dedicated trash can strap system, available at local hardware stores or online, can keep lids tightly closed and prevent bears or other wildlife from opening them.
- Service Provider Rental: Contact your local waste management company to request a bear-resistant trash container.
- Purchase Heavy-Duty Bins ~$330: Buy a certified bear-resistant trash can from a local hardware store.
What’s at Stake?
When bears get access to human garbage, everyone loses:
- The Life of a Bear: When bears become habituated to humans as a food source and lose their natural fear of people, they often end up having to be euthanized due to public safety concerns. Fatalities among habituated bears are currently at a high across the state and have remained at zero in Summit County, due to the community’s vigilance. Let’s keep it that way!
- Your Time: Cleaning up torn trash bags strewn across your yard or business is a chore no one wants.
- Neighborhood Relations: Unsecured trash creates safety concerns and frustrations among neighbors. Let’s keep trash in cans and harmony in our neighborhoods.
How You Can Help Keep Bears Wild
Protecting local wildlife starts with simple changes to your daily routine:
- Store Securely: Keep your trash bins inside a garage or fully secure shed until pickup day whenever possible. Bears are very intelligent and can sneak into sheds if they are very motivated, so ensuring your trash shed is bear-proof is very important.
- Time It Right: Put garbage cans out only a few hours before pickup on the morning of service — NEVER leave them out overnight.
- No Food Left Outdoors: Don’t leave pet food, bird food, or hummingbird feeders with sugar water outside, even on an elevated deck. Bears are skilled climbers and will scale a deck to get to needed calories.
- No Bears in Cars: Lock your cars whenever you are parked anywhere, including at home. Never store food, beverages, or food wrappers and containers in your car. Bears are so motivated to find calories right now that they will figure out a way into an unlocked car. It’s happened already in Summit County this year, and the results are not pretty- think lots of ripped interiors and bear poop!
- Do Not Feed Them: Yep- they look super cute and are hungry, but they are wild animals and feeding a bear is a sure way to habituate them to humans who they will then see as a food source. This will eventually result in bears being euthanized. Keep your distance from bears and don’t give them snacks no matter how adorable they are!
Reporting Issues in the Community
If you notice ongoing trash issues or unsecured attractants in your area, please report them to non-emergency dispatch at 970-668-8600. This is the best way to contact the Frisco Police Department when it is not an emergency. Always call 911 when it is an emergency.
Let’s protect our local bruins and all wildlife, keep our neighborhoods clean, and stay bear-smart this season!