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Bear Season Tips

Hungry bears, coming out of the lean winter season, ramble their way through neighborhoods looking for bird feeders, garbage cans and pet food. The bears in Bellevue are especially looking for bird feeders. Bring your bird feeders inside now to reduce the number of bears in your neighborhood.

Sighting reports show that the bears are most active from the end of May into August. The neighborhoods between Forest Drive and Coal Creek Park and around Lakemount Blvd. seem to have more sightings than other areas and bears target this area to forage from bird feeders. Take action now to reduce the number of black bears that you see in your neighborhood.

Bear
Safety First!
If you see a black bear, keep your distance! Bears are wild animals and can be dangerous if they feel threatened. Go inside the nearest house until the bear leaves the area. If you are not able to go inside, walk away from the bear.

Never run from a bear. Stay calm, don't make noise that could scare the bear but do talk loud enough for it to become aware of your presence.
Never approach a bear. Surprising a bear may make it feel threatened.
Teach children bear safety!

Why Are They Here?
Bears come into suburban areas for one reason: food. Bird feeders, garbage cans, pet food are all easy and reliable sources of food. Mother bears teach cubs where to find bird feeders, how to open garbage cans and where Fido's food dish is located. The young become habituated: they will return every spring to suburbia unless their food supply is cutoff.
Black Bears:
  • Smallest bear in North America
  • Omnivorous: eat anything, but mostly vegetarian
  • Smart, adaptable creatures
  • Keen sense of smell, poor eyesight
  • Not always black, can be brown
  • Cubs stay with females for about 15 months
  • Breed every other year
What can I Do To Keep Bears Away?
Make your backyard less attractive to hungry bears.
  • Remove all food sources.
    Especially bring bird feeders inside during May thru October including seed, suet and nectar feeders (there’s plenty of wild bird food, the birds will survive!)
  • Keep your pet food indoors.
  • Leave garbage can outside only when necessary for pickup, reduce food waste in can by sending it down the sink garbage disposal or maintaining a worm bin.
  • If you compost, keep the compost tightly covered, even fruits and vegetables will attract bears.
  • Keep BBQ grills clean and odor free.
  • Install an electric fence around yard perimeter.

For more information of living with black bears in King County, contact Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Management Program at
360-902-2515, E-Mail wildthing@dfw.wa.gov or
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/blkbear/blkbear.htm.

  
To report attacks, damage or depredation by Black Bears, contact your local state patrol office.

For questions about this Bear Web site, please contact Marie Alvarado.

For questions about the
Water and Land Resources Web Site, please contact Fred Bentler,Webmaster
Visual Communication & GIS Unit.

Heron banner photo by Bill Priest.


Department of Natural Resources and Parks
Water and Land Resources Division

Updated: June 20, 2005
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