Compost and bears

My friend got a dog (huskie/Malamute mix) to help ward off the bears this year & it did a great job. Used to have the bears in his yard constantly, not much problem this year. They did still come around but they mostly kept their distance and didn't cause any trouble. He also added about 30 chickens to his property this year & kept an electric fence around the run. Think a bear tried to get into the pen once or twice but the electric fence changed it's mind. Now his concern is keeping the dog away from the chickens! Lost 2 to the dog. He hasn't done much of a compost pile yet, however if the chickens did not create a big bear problem I wouldn't worry about the compost pile.

The bear population has caggipled in the west. Bear that were a problem were moved to another where they would coutinue to be a problem. There were always bear here but I was able to discourage them. Couple years back it started: The bear, some people think they are so cute, have began to break into homes at times when the family is there. A lady and her child were trapped in her home, a bear in the house, the officer that came couldn't get the bear to leave and shot it.The crazies found his address and phone number he was getting death threats.

Not too long ago the children came in crying: the side of the barn was torn off and their doe was gone. We looked but never found her. The next night we heard it over the monitor: I went out but couldn't see, it was very dark. I saw the movement, fast as a cat, and fired. Too fast for me. Later I found I had parted his hair down to the bone, it didn't bother him. The doe he mauled that night couldn't be saved the vet said. I slept in the barn overhead that night. Never saw a thing, he would strumb the fence with his claws but never showed. The next night I was in the overhead at dawn wifey called on the handheld saying "come in it's morning" soon as I closed the house door he was out there. This went on for 10 days, we couldn't have the children outside, we could get no sleep.
The sheriff came 4 of them and shot bean bags at him, they followed him up the mountain, he kept just out of range and followed them back down.

What didn't happen was: Our land is heavily wooded. When I went up to a outbuilding used for storage, I carried a rifle. There we were 20' apart. My heart was so loud, I thought they must hear it back at the house. Good bear now.

There are people who go missing hiking here, I think some are taken by bear. I used to go hiking for days, fishing, I wouldn't take my family on that type of outing now, I didn't know how fast they are. There are many bear attacks and they are played down, they're so cute. Want a wooden bear on your lawn?

If you have bear on your property and one kills you or your child they will try to find the one that did it, if the bear has a cup it will be held blameless. Was that last year at Yellowstone?

We installed a 9+ Joule fence charger that has stopped the bear and coyote so far.



I few hundered yards from here is a vacation home of a friend. four times, in the last three years, his door has been ripped off and he's house trashed.

I don't think they're cute anymore!

I add chicken and dead critter carcasses to my compost pile all the time. The trick is to dig a hole down into the middle of it and bury it in. I cover the pile with straw to reduce odor. I set a wire cover over the top to keep the chickens from digging through and uncovering it. The wire isn't tied down, just laid on top. I throw my grey dish washing water on top all the time. The chicks like to fly up and scarf up the goodies that get left on the top. We have had bear get into the garbage cans but have never bothered the compost pile. Now we compost all the food scraps and the bear has left the cans alone.

If you have enough sawdust, you can compost the bear.