Reviewing Bear Safety

The bear activity in our neighborhood has been very high this spring and summer. We have a mother bear and two cubs visiting our street and yard daily. In fact, my husband and dog got up close and personal with the bears in our backyard twice in the past two weeks. Once recently, our dog chased the mother bear out of the yard. She ran away, but as soon as she got on the opposite side of the fence, she stood up and roared at the dog and my husband. Then last night, two baby bears were in our backyard and ran up a tree when they heard our dog barking. Luckily, my husband saw them from a good distance and was able to get Boomer (dog) back into the house quickly. They had a field day with our trash cans and trapped us in our house for about an hour. We didn't see mom. We see them walking through our yard or down the road several times a week. So now we are not letting the dog play in the backyard anymore.

All this to say, we really need to review bear safety with our children. Below is a list of suggestions.

• Do not approach or sneak up on a bear.
• If the bear stops its activity, you are too close.
• Never turn your back on a bear or run from a bear.
• Slowly back up and make lots of noise.
• Raise your arms above your head and wave them vigorously.

If a black bear attacks you, fight like mad. Use anything you have as a weapon. Never play dead with a black bear.

We will be ordering an air horn. It will hopefully scare away bears and warn others inside that someone in the yard is in trouble. 

Blessings, Dawn