Do Sunflowers Attract Bears?

I have researching this question for some time but haven't been able to come to a satisfactory answer. My husband and I live in a forest area where brown bears roam regularly. Last year, I found two hybrid (ornamental) sunflowers on clearance at Canadian Tire and planted both in two hugel mounds at the back of our property. They were beautiful but did not create actual oil because of their hybrid quality. My neighbour suggesting planting sunflowers on my own but I haven't done so yet because I am very nervous they will attract bears. It makes sense to me because they love suet and any oil found in birdseed. I have just never had it confirmed by anyone's experience. For now, I am not planting any "real" sunflowers because of these concerns but just wondered if anyone here has had experience in this area. Thanks so much in advance!

I grow a lot of volunteer black oil sunflowers (from our winter feeders), and let them go to maturity. Birds and squirrels find them quickly when the seeds are starting to mature.

I think that bears would figure it out too. I know they will go into backyard bird feeders. And once they learn a food source, they never forget.

I suppose if you were super proactive and chopped off the seed heads early, you might avoid trouble.

If I were a bear, I would love sunflowers.

We planted a food plot of sunflower seeds for the doves.

Guess who ate all the sunflowers before the doves got to have them?  Deer.

I would not want to attract bears.

Hi Shari,
I am not a bear expert, and we do not have nearly the bear pressure than you would in your area. Still... I've got to think, that while the bears would probably enjoy some sunflowers, that if you are only planting a handful, that it will not attract them as much as other things that are more potent and have more than a mouthful. I would think garbage would be more likely to attract them for instance than sunflowers.

Its usually the anthropogenic concentration of calories and nutrients that attract bears to human food and things like suet or seed feeders. Even if a bear does go for our sunflower patch or fruit tree, or vineyard, they would not generally associate it with humans the way they would a cooler or cabinet full of peanut butter covered in our scent. The latter makes them associate humans with that concentrated food source. Sunflowers would probably be no more attractive than their seeds in the pantry or seed cabinet, which they can undoubtedly smell from outside the house. I understand brown bears are not easy to deal with, but many more calorically concentrated and human scented food sources are likely around to concern oneself with first.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I grow a lot of volunteer black oil sunflowers (from our winter feeders), and let them go to maturity. Birds and squirrels find them quickly when the seeds are starting to mature.

I think that bears would figure it out too. I know they will go into backyard bird feeders. And once they learn a food source, they never forget.

I suppose if you were super proactive and chopped off the seed heads early, you might avoid trouble.

Thank you, Douglas! That is interesting information. That was my thought, too, and why I haven't planted them.

Anne Miller wrote:If I were a bear, I would love sunflowers.

We planted a food plot of sunflower seeds for the doves.

Guess who ate all the sunflowers before the doves got to have them?  Deer.

I would not want to attract bears.

Anne, my thoughts exactly! And brown bears have the most sensitive nose of any animal. I know because I researched them when we moved here and wrote an article about it. We do have a dog, so bears are far less likely to come in but still. Just out of curiosity, did you keep planting the sunflowers?

Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Shari,
I am not a bear expert, and we do not have nearly the bear pressure than you would in your area. Still... I've got to think, that while the bears would probably enjoy some sunflowers, that if you are only planting a handful, that it will not attract them as much as other things that are more potent and have more than a mouthful. I would think garbage would be more likely to attract them for instance than sunflowers.

Matt, thank you for that perspective. It is an interesting point that a couple of sunflowers would be a relatively small food source compared to some other potential ones like garbage. A lot depends on how hungry they are that year and how plentiful the other food sources are in any given year.

Ben Zumeta wrote:Its usually the anthropogenic concentration of calories and nutrients that attract bears to human food and things like suet or seed feeders. Even if a bear does go for our sunflower patch or fruit tree, or vineyard, they would not generally associate it with humans the way they would a cooler or cabinet full of peanut butter covered in our scent. The latter makes them associate humans with that concentrated food source. Sunflowers would probably be no more attractive than their seeds in the pantry or seed cabinet, which they can undoubtedly smell from outside the house. I understand brown bears are not easy to deal with, but many more calorically concentrated and human scented food sources are likely around to concern oneself with first.

Wow, very interesting comment, Ben! So, you're saying it is the concentration of calories that bears are especially attracted to? But would sunflowers count as being calorically concentrated because of how many seeds are in one plant? The thing is, I did research to make sure that we don't have any other sources of bear-attractants on our property. We did end up with a lot of wild raspberry, which is also of concern to me. We have a big dog that also is a big deterrent.

Shari Clark wrote:Anne, my thoughts exactly! And brown bears have the most sensitive nose of any animal. I know because I researched them when we moved here and wrote an article about it. We do have a dog, so bears are far less likely to come in but still. Just out of curiosity, did you keep planting the sunflowers?

No, that was our only food plat with sunflowers.  I have about 5 pounds of black oil sunflower seeds in my freezer.

Dear hubby just offers them to our daughter who turned them down.  Her life is too busy probably partying...

My black bears love oilers, that's why they come around. Momma came back from last year with her 4 (yes 4) little ones who are much bigger this year. I had a momma come around for 5 years (3 sets of triplets) and she use to knock on my door looking for oilers. Another thing they love is suet. Hard to feed the peckers when the bears are running off with the suet cake holder. They are more interested in oilers that are ready to eat than flowers.

Check out Bear site

Dennis Goyette wrote:My black bears love oilers, that's why they come around. Momma came back from last year with her 4 (yes 4) little ones who are much bigger this year. I had a momma come around for 5 years (3 sets of triplets) and she use to knock on my door looking for oilers. Another thing they love is suet. Hard to feed the peckers when the bears are running off with the suet cake holder. They are more interested in oilers that are ready to eat than flowers.

Check out Bear site

Dennis, excuse my ignorance, but what are oilers? I am not familiar with that term. Yes, the suet I am familiar with. I try to encourage my neighbours to never feed the birds but some still do, sigh. That's interesting that they prefer something that is easier to eat, for sure.

Thanks for the feedback!

I think the question overall is still up for debate but for now, I would rather be safe than sorry and forego that particular plant. The hybrid ones, though, that are ornamental, I may buy again if they are on clearance this year. Thanks, everyone!

That's what my mom called them growing up. Term comes from Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.

If you have a fenced in area or are more urban than rural (rural here in the hills and woods) then critters may not be an issue.