Bear Safety

Tips to Minimize Bear Activity Near Your Cottage

by Elizabeth Quinn

• Don’t leave food, garbage, compost, bird feeders around the cottage.
• Put bear “unwelcome mats” — plywood with protruding 3/4-inch nails beneath thresholds and windows.
• Install motion lights, sprinklers and/or sirens.
• Keep an air horn or whistle handy to scare off bears.
• Use bear spray, a hose or Super Soaker filled with water and a touch of vinegar to scare away a bear. Never chase the bear.
• String empty cans filled with pebbles 3 feet off the ground to startle bears.
• Leave the television or radio on — bears try to avoid people. Consider doing this when you leave for the year. The cost of electricity compared to the cost of repairs justifies the expense.
• Close the curtains, hang beach towels over windows, or drape the fridge with a coloured sheet so the bears can’t see or recognize the refrigerator.
• Saturate or paint window sills and doorways with Pine-Sol or ammonia — but never squirt it in bears’ eyes, because it can blind them.
• Leave a wind chime hanging in a location likely to catch prevailing west and autumn north winds.
• Install electric fencing.
• Consider getting a dog, or install barking-dog devices to deter bears.

Non-emergency encounters: Call the Bear Wise reporting line: 1-866-514-2327 (April 1-November 30)

If a bear is:

• roaming around, checking garbage cans
• breaking into a shed where garbage or food is stored
• in a tree
• pulling down a bird feeder or knocking over a barbecue
• moving through a backyard or field but is not lingering

Ontario Bear Wise: Bear Encounters