Any ideas for keeping bears out?

[SouthParkSteve]

This may be an odd one. I have a 1978 bumper pull travel trailer that I park in my driveway. I do not keep food in it, but it is a 1978 trailer, so obviously many meals have been prepared inside it.

I live in an area where many people come to camp--at almost 11,000 feet at the base of the Continental Divide in central Colorado. My house is very near the Pike/San Isabel National Forest.

I bought my camper a year ago, and last year I had no troubles. However, this year, a bear decided he wanted to check out the inside of my camper--and tore the door off in the process. This happened about 5 days before I was supposed to leave on a week-long camping trip. I got if fixed and went on the trip, but then about 2 months later....he did it again:

I can't afford to replace the door several times per year, but I also can't really afford off-site storage.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to dissuade a bear from trying to enter an unoccupied camper?

[Ozlander]

WELL, it's your door and your money and maybe your life.
Carry on like nothing happened.

[Muddydogs]

SouthParkSteve wrote:
I'm extremely hesitant to call DOW on this guy, even though he has done some damage. Colorado has a "2 strikes and you're out" policy on problem bears. If they relocate it, they will also tag it. If it comes back into contact with humans, they will then kill it.

He is not a danger to people right now, and with proper nudging, he might just decide it is not worth it. I would just hate to know that a bear had to die because I live in his natural habitat.

Right now it is obviously not an issue, as they have all gone into hibernation for the winter. If he becomes an issue again next summer, I MAY have to call the DOW on him.....but I would really like to avoid that if he is not actually dangerous.......

What if the next time you are outside and he comes along and decides to eat you for lunch, will he be dangerous yet? Any Bear breaking into your trailer, coming on your deck or hanging around a residential area is a danger, its just a matter of time before someone surprises the Bear or it just decides its had enough and kills someone then who's to blame the bear or the residents that did nothing? I guess I am not a bleeding heart over animals, I have no tolerance for any animal that could kill me or mine and take appropriate action the first time. First time I saw the bear on my deck he would have had some shotgun poppers fired over his head in hopes the noise would scare him off, the second time would be his end.

Another word of warning, an electric fence or spiked boards around the trailer is all good and fine until some kid or would be robber comes along and steps on the spikes or touches the fence and then its your fault and you could be held liable for what ever damages so plan accordingly.

[D_E_Bishop]

Okay, now that we agree it is a bear, is it wrong to remove the bear and possibly kill it to stop the break ins? I don't think so, my eldest DD is a Cal. D of F & W biologist and believe it or not lives in Pasadena Cal where bears in her yard are an almost daily event and they have never called the local LEOs and none of the bears have been relocated or killed.

In most areas of the country, law enforcement personnel are sworn to protect PEOPLE and not animals, whereas, Wildlife Officers are trained to handle the bear situation. Sometimes deterrents are not effective and bears must be killed.

In my daughters situation, the use of lockable trash cans and the removable of most food sources has contained the bears and homes and vehicles have not been damaged. There are two things that the community has decided not to remove from their properties, fruit trees and contained (penned up) pets and poultry and one of the most difficult things to get rid of, the water features in their yards.

It seems to me that you have to decide to what extent you will protect this bears life. Several deterrents have been suggested and I don't know which ones are effective and I cannot make a knowledgeable suggestion beyond what you have already done. This bear has learned that there may be food inside your trailer and will keep coming back until it learns that there is no longer food available or that it can no longer get to the food or it is destroyed.

I don't know how you classify the situation, it being immoral to kill the bear or that it is a quality of life situation where you must spend large amounts of money to keep repairing you trailer or use other deterrents. Your call, not the bears.

Good luck and I hope you solve the problem before you run out of money to repair the damage.

[Caveman_Charlie]

Um, instead of taking photos shouldn't you have been taking cover?

Don't they sell some sort of bear repellant you can spray around the house and camper? I'm sure you are not the first one to have this problem.

Bet you don't have any pets.

Boy yet another good thing about living here on the prairie. And I thought raccoons were bad.

[Bull_Rider]

What other attractants do you have around your place?

Bird feeders, pet food left outside, fruit left on fruit trees or on the ground? Compost piles, horse food, fish fertilizer, barbeques left on the deck? Unsecured garbage cans?

Once your place gives up some free, easy calories, then you become part of the weekly routine and it can be very difficult to break the cycle.

Even worse, is when mama has her cubs, they also get taught that your place is a good place for chow. Then you have multiple generations of habituated bears.

Relocating bears makes the public feel better, but it's usually a bad deal for the bear.

Learned behavior is very hard to unlearn.

[PA12DRVR]

Boards with nails and electric fence both seem to be fairly decent at discouraging brother bruin.

As others have mentioned, just don't forget that you have the deterrents in place.

[turbojimmy]

Wow! I stand corrected. I've never seen such surgical precision before! Jersey black bears lack such finesse!

Good luck!

[SouthParkSteve]

I'm extremely hesitant to call DOW on this guy, even though he has done some damage. Colorado has a "2 strikes and you're out" policy on problem bears. If they relocate it, they will also tag it. If it comes back into contact with humans, they will then kill it.

He is not a danger to people right now, and with proper nudging, he might just decide it is not worth it. I would just hate to know that a bear had to die because I live in his natural habitat.

Right now it is obviously not an issue, as they have all gone into hibernation for the winter. If he becomes an issue again next summer, I MAY have to call the DOW on him.....but I would really like to avoid that if he is not actually dangerous.......

[et2]

You really need to do something about that bear!! Someone might come up on it at the wrong time. It might not go so well.

[toedtoes]

I would contact your state wildlife agency first. If he can be relocated, that will be the best thing for him.

Electric fencing will keep him away from the trailer, but not necessarily make him go away - he may find something else of interest.

The motion sensor alarm will likely scare him away from the area completely. But the pitch/tone of the alarm could affect its capability. I believe I heard that a lower pitched sound will be more effective than a high pitched sound (high pitched can sound like a prey animal).

[SouthParkSteve]

Thanks to all for your input so far. I have heard about the ammonia, and I am considering that idea--or possibly the electric wire. I have also thought about a motion sensor alarm, but I don't want to wake up the whole neighborhood at 3am.....

For those of you who doubt this is a bear--I can definitely assure you it was. I did not post interior photos, as the damage there was mostly cosmetic (he tore a cabinet door off, etc.), so not really as much of a concern--it could have been a LOT worse. I know it was a bear because of the puncture marks on the bottles of RV anti-freeze that I had stored inside that he dumped all over, as well as the bite marks on my salt and pepper shakers, etc. Here is some of the interior mess:



There were also patches of bear fur scraped off in a few places inside, and big bear paw prints along the wall from where he looked in the windows before deciding to pull back the corner of the door.

Not SURE if this is the same guy, but this one visited the front deck of my house about 6 weeks before the first break in (these photos were taken through my dining room window with no telephoto lens.....):



He is my prime suspect at the moment......

[down_home]

If you can find one, an motion triggered alarm, on the door. The noise will scare it away at least once. I haven't seen them in a while but they should still be around.

[portscanner]

et2 wrote:
Maybe putting a picture of a few lions on the door might help.

You need some tigers, too.

Oh my!

[wintersun]

Best post was the one advising getting a game camera. Cost is $40 for one that will help you identify the intruder should he return. Most likely is that the person having found nothing of value is not going to bother again.

Most burglary like this is caused by teenagers. Truancy programs have been the most effective at reducing the problem in communities.

When Nixon opened up all of the national forests to trail bikes I saw first hand a dramatic increase in break-ins and vandalism and the problem continues. It is why there are so many more locked gates which help to deter such people.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Fizz wrote:
I've seen wilderness cabins where the doormat is a sheet of plywood with dozens of nails sticking up.

Yep - cheap "fix".

Just don't forget they're there - when visiting your trailer at night, or if a snowfall covered the boards!..;)

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On edit - for the "Not a bear" - posters.
There was a pic a few years back of a "witnessed" bear break-in of a TT. Bear did a *LOT* more damage than just a door.

Still cheap and easy to find out -
Yogi won't move boards with nails..... but a human will move 'em (if he sees 'em) and/or you will hear some very human vile language!

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