Composting in bear country.

Hello all. I have a friend that has moved to an area with heavy bear traffic. As we were talking a few questions came up. Will bears normally mess with compost? Is there a style of compost pile or bin that’s better than others? Is there anything else she needs to know? Thanks!

Tricky business. If the compost is just leaves and grass clippings it would be fine, but I think bears would investigate anything that contains food scraps from house or garden. Once a bear learns of a food source, it never forgets.

A couple of related links:

https://permies.com/t/64576

https://permies.com/t/140875

I like the idea of doing bokashi:

https://permies.com/t/78784/Bokashi-Composting

I ask Pinterest who gave me this (looks real bear proof to me):


source

Be sure to let us know what she decides on.

That’s more like a compost fortress Anne. 😂
I’ll be sure to pass along whatever method she decides on. Thanks!

HMmm anne It looks like I could store my tacos in that composter! Great Idea!

We compost in a simple, unprotected wood compost frame in northern Canada. It's all only ever plant food leftovers or other plant materials gathered from the gardens or forest. I can only speak for those bears who share the land with me, not bears anyplace else.. Grizzlies and black bears both visit the compost in early spring, after emerging from hibernation. They know what's good for them, and they don't visit elsewise. I've never seen the same bear visit the compost twice in one spring. So we have always let them munch what little they do, receiving their visitations with gratitude. I have never had any problems with any animals visiting the compost throughout the warm season. This is in a very remote area however, and I suspect that the "garbage dump" bears more proximal to developed areas or campgrounds might be more encouraged into bad habits. Another thing I've noticed,is if you consume a lot of cooked meat especially, you will always attract bears in a less than friendly way. I tan hides (which tend to only have a bit of fat left on them, no real meat) and consume fish (usually very quickly, raw, lightly smoked, or frozen), but I have still never had a bear come nosing around pushily. I think it's at least in part because I don't have a lot of meat. My friends who regularly cook meat, on the other hand, have had experiences where a bear tries to get into their cabin to reach it. Their relationship to the animals is subsequently a little more adversarial and defensive. For your composting, this means if you only intend to have plant material go in, you may be fine without any special bear-proofing.

Typically you would exclude any meat or fat from your compost piles.

Then a portable electric poultry net will prevent unwanted animals once they learn to recognize the danger.

But I also like the passive approach, allowing bears their space in the environment. Bears are known to play an integral part in the survival of the planet...

“Hi, my name is Wilson, but my people also call me silly names like Willie, Sugar Bear, and Captain Handsomepants. I am a livestock guardian dog (LGD). In addition to the mammals I love to watch over like family, and birds that I will do look after despite their constant temptation of flying and fighting in front of me, I will also protect worms and other composting creatures within my territory. I do not understand why my people seem to care so much about these little guys, but they feed and shelter them so a bear better not even think about coming in my fenced area to mess with them. Same goes for trees and all those meaningless possessions people seem to care about. If they care about them, I do too. I spend 12-16hrs a day barking in every direction to let every living thing know that I am here, I am big, and I am fearless. Bears will find easier food elsewhere. I also make it very easy to not have to throw meat products out, because I love bone broth and can break down bones in minutes.”

I would also bet bears are integral to moving soil and fungal microbes and spores around their territories, so anything we can do to allow them to do their thing while we do ours with minimal conflict is good. I think livestock guardian dogs are great for doing this with bears as well as wolves, coyotes, mountain lions and any other predator. They also help with most herbivores. Deer and squirrels are terrified of dogs, even though my Wilson would probably protect them from predators too.