COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE: Attracting Birds, Not Bears

From Colorado Parks and Wildlife :

COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE: Attracting Birds, Not Bears
Help Keep Bears Wild
If you want to feed birds while bears are active, you’ll need to bring your feeders in every night before sundown, or hang them out of reach.

Out of reach for a bear is at least ten feet off the ground and ten feet from anything bears can climb — which includes deck posts and exterior stairs.

Don’t use a simple rope pulley to bring your feeder up and down for filling — bears are smart enough to figure out how it works. Use a clip-style latch bears can’t open.

Keep the area underneath feeders clear of hulls and debris. Switching to a shelled or pre-hulled bird seed, often sold as Porch and Patio mix, makes that a lot easier.

Even if a bear can’t reach your feeder, the sight and smell will still attract them. Bears have been seen sitting under feeders for hours, trying to figure out how to get them down. And while they’re thinking, they may look around to see if there’s anything else interesting at your place. So if you feed birds while bears are active, you’ll want to be extra vigilant, and make sure you’ve thoroughly bear-proofed your home, garage and property.

Keep reading for ways to attract birds without attracting bears. http://bit.ly/CPWBirdsOnly


More Resources:
Learn about building and placement of nest boxes:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “Homes for Birds”
http://library.fws.gov/Bird_Publications/house.html

Audubon resource page
http://www.audubon.org/educate/expert/birdhouse.html

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Birdhouse Basics
http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/bhba ... chart.html

Learn About Native Shrubs and Flowers
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07422.html
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/07242.html

Visit http://www.wildlife.state.co.us/bears for more information or call your local Parks and Wildlife Office.
Colorado ParKS & Wildlife •
6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216 • (303) 297-1192 • http://www.wildlife.state.co.us/bears

Truth about bears and their leaping ability. I hang my feeders at 15' off my garage and those don't get tampered with, 12'? They get taken down. And bring them in at night may work with some bears, but mine like to check the feeders during the day too.