No thanks. I already ate.: June 2011

Friday, June 24, 2011

Bear Smart Durango Seeks Educators

Bear Smart Durango is seeking applicants for a part-time, seasonal, paid education specialist who can provide classroom lessons on black bears and living with wildlife to elementary school students. This position will begin at the start of the fall school year; volunteer opportunities are available for the summer as well.

For more information please contact Bryan Peterson at (970) 749-4262 or e-mail bp@frontier.net.

Note: photos courtesy of Bow Valley WildSmart, Canmore, Alberta, CAN.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Bear Botany Walk in Perins!

Bear Smart Durango is thrilled to team up with Eve Gilmore and the San Juan Four Corners Native Plant Society for a Bear Botany walk in Perins Peak SWA this Thursday, June 16 from 7-8PM. The walk is easy and attendees should leave with a better understanding of spring plants, black bears and the native foods they rely on to survive in the wild.

Attendees should meet by 6:30PM at the SE corner of Albertson's parking lot (map below) - for carpooling to the trailhead. Long pants are highly recommended.

This is a FREE event. Contact Bryan at Bear Smart at 970-749-4262 or bp@frontier.net for more information.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Website for "Living with Bears"

PixyJack Press has a new website for the book, Living with Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country, by author
Linda Masterson.
Living with Bears is the ultimate hands-on guide to living responsibly and playing safely anywhere bears call home. It's a book that's fun to read, easy to reference, and packed with practical information, useful tips, and advice from bear experts all over the continent.

"We recommend Living with Bears to all our property owners, and we sell it in the office. It makes it much easier to get people to understand what they need to do to prevent bear problems." — Jim Tiffin, Crystal Lakes Homeowner's Association, Colorado.
There's even a chapter in the book about Bear Smart Durango!
We have a number of the books available for sale and if you'd like a copy, or copies, let us know.

how you can help

Most importantly is to remove any attractants from your property that will lure bears, which creates "problem" bears in the first place. Remove the food source and you remove the bear. Here are a few other ways you can contribute:

• Be a good neighbor, by talking to them, and notifying them on how to not attract bears to your neighborhood.

• Make bird feeders inaccessible on first sign of bears being in your area. All it takes is once, and bears easily recall this valuable, high-caloric food reward (a seven pound tube of black oil birdseed contains 12,000 calories).

• If you have fruit trees and actually use the fruit and dont want damage to limbs, get all fruit off the tree, shake the fruit off if necessary and pick before fruit is ripe. Remove any and all fallen fruit from the ground.

• Report bear sightings.

• Notify your elected officials when you are experiencing bear issues. Or write a letter to the editor. People that draft policy don't address something they never hear about.

• Get a wildlife-resistant trash container for your home. If you have a dumpster, talk to your waste provider about upgrading or modifying with metal lids and latches to make it wildlife-proof.

• If you live in the county, consider electric fencing to protect things of value from damage, injury or death from bears.

• Feel free to help out financially. We accept contributions year-round, not just during bear season.

• Volunteer some time during bear season.

Please allow bears to remain wild bears.