If you live in or near Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, or Plain, black bears are active in your area. It’s up to all of us to take simple precautions to keep our community safe and prevent human-wildlife conflict.
Bears are attracted to easy food sources like garbage, pet food, bird feeders, and livestock feed. When bears find human-provided food sources, it can lead to potentially dangerous encounters and long-term problems for both people and wildlife. We can prevent these encounters by securing common household bear attractants!
What you can do:
– Secure garbage and use bear-resistant containers. Keep your garbage cans in a secure, locked building (like a garden shed or garage) until pick-up day.
– Remove outdoor attractants like bird feeders. Remember, if a bear finds it, it’s no longer a “bird” feeder!
– Store pet and livestock feed safely. Avoid feeding pets outdoors unattended, and keep livestock feed in secure, locked containers, preferably inside a building.
Remember: feeding or attracting bears (intentionally or unintentionally) is illegal in Washington.
Interested in a bear-resistant garbage can? Call Waste Management at 1-877-466-4668.
Learn more at https://wdfw.wa.gov/species…/species/ursus-americanus.
Photo courtesy Justin Haug.
