It’s gardening and landscaping season in bear country! As much as you may like your garden, the bears like it even more so.
To avoid conflict with bears, understand that bears are drawn in to town by food odours. They have seven times the scent sensitivity of a Blood Hound, so if you have something tasty, they’ll find it. Once a bear finds a food source in town it will remember and expect to find more of the same at that location. Through scent trails and scat a bear can mark the spot for other bears as a good place to feed. If that’s your yard, then you have a problem. Bears will cause property damage trying to get at a food source and may damage your trees breaking off branches to get at fruit, or digging up your garden. Best not to attract them in the first place.
When planning out a garden in bear country confirm that what you plant will not produce fruit. Fruit bearing ornamental bushes and trees are a major attractant of bears. Bears will feed on cherries, chokecherries, dogwood, wolf willow, mountain buffalo berry, pears, apple and crabapples.
Flowering plants are ok, just stay away from fruit bearing plants to avoid attracting bears to your garden.
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