Poll: For those in bear country: Do you leave feeders out in Spring/Summer?

Home Forums Bluebird Chatter Poll: For those in bear country: Do you leave feeders out in Spring/Summer?

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  • #3313
    nhhawk6
    Participant

      I have bears. Not a lot, but I have bears. I have never taken feeders in, but I am considering it, both in an attempt to be responsible by not attracting bears, but also to instill a little piece and quite on the property for the bluebirds in the two nest boxes. What does everyone else do? What about taking the feeders in at night, and leaving out during the day? Thanks!

      • This topic was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by nhhawk6.

      Randy
      Bedford, New Hampshire

      #3315
      tamsea
      Moderator

        I leave my feeders up all year. There are several on here that remove feeders during nesting season. No bears around me though.

        Tammy

        #3319
        Carol – Mid-Mo.
        Participant

          I have always taken in my SEED feeders (located in the middle of my large backyard) in early spring, otherwise my winter birds (juncos & white crowned sparrows, etc) would never want to leave and I definitely would have more HOSP. I leave my cage suet/worm feeder up for the bluebirds, which is on my house back deck railing. If I had bears around, though, I definitely would not leave any food/seed around for them!!! I guess a lot depends on what birds you want to feed – I enjoy all birds but definitely will cater to my bluebirds by feeding them. I DO NOT overfeed them, however – only give them a few worms at a time, like a treat, and a little more when they have babies to feed. But I truly believe they need to learn and be able to hunt for themselves.

          #3321
          nhhawk6
          Participant

            Thanks, Carol, and I do not necessarily disagree. I, too, am partial to bluebirds, no doubt, but I also offer grape jelly and orange halves for my Baltimore orioles, and the Red-bellied woodpeckers get special attention, as well. I guess I am just trying to strike the right balance so that all of my “desirables” continue to grace my property, while at the same time keeping the black bears at bay. I may just experiment with daytime feeding on the weekends, when I can monitor, and nothing left out at night…

            Randy
            Bedford, New Hampshire

            #3322
            dpurdue
            Participant

              You could try spicicing your food with some cayenne pepper or something similar
              The birds won’t care and it should keep the mammals from eating it
              Good Luck 🍀
              Darrell in KC

              #3323
              Carol – Mid-Mo.
              Participant

                Randy, Baltimore Orioles (and Orchard Orioles) come to my hummingbird feeder, which is on my back deck railing, close to where my cage worm feeder is. I have had them come there about 4 years now and love seeing up close these beautiful birds. I have the feeders stabilized so that they can’t tip them & empty them so quickly!

                #3324
                nhhawk6
                Participant

                  Very nice!! That is awesome, Carol! It is a blast, trying to figure out what works, and what doesn’t. And the birds reward us when we get it right!

                  • This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by nhhawk6.

                  Randy
                  Bedford, New Hampshire

                  #3336
                  Dana
                  Participant

                    Hi Randy,
                    I have never seen any bears here near where I live. But we do have raccoons and possums, deer, groundhogs, etc. The raccoons have been the only problem at times. So I take my bird feeders down at night.

                    #3341
                    nhhawk6
                    Participant

                      I agree, Dana. Taking feeders in at night just makes sense; no downside, whatsoever. Once the northern cardinals leave for the evening, the feeding stations are done for the night. I will start taking mine inside. Our bears are out and about, already, this year! They are a easy-going bunch, however; no real problems with them. I just want to keep them at bay.

                      Randy
                      Bedford, New Hampshire

                      #3396
                      tamsea
                      Moderator

                        It would be so crazy having bear as common backyard wildlife!!

                        Tammy

                        #3399
                        nhhawk6
                        Participant

                          I can’t honestly say that I have ours all figured out, Tammy. Like I said, they are not around so frequently that they could be considered a nuisance, and this one “teenager” gets himself into more trouble than he causes. Each of the past two years, he has climbed a tree in our wetlands, just to fall out of it once he got to the top. I witnessed the first episode. I don’t know what he was doing up there, but he lost his footing, and simply fell out of the tree. He didn’t appear hurt, and he simply got up and walked across the street. The next summer, two workmen were outside doing some repair work on my home, and I was inside. I heard an awful crash, and ran out to see if one of them had fallen from a ladder. They said they had just watched a bear climb a tree in the wetlands and fall, as the top of the tree snapped off! The bear was down, but again, got up and walked it off… I guess he benefits from landing primarily in a couple feet of water, but his luck figures to run out soon. I have seen him do a number of dumb things. We watched him as a cub, and you could tell that mama bear signed off on him kinda early…

                          Randy
                          Bedford, New Hampshire

                          #3402
                          tamsea
                          Moderator

                            That would be kind of fun.

                            Tammy

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