Page 2 — 2014 Spring Home and Garden, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.
Bear necessities
Inside
As bears come out of hibernation, they look for a place to dine By Dee Camp The Chronicle OKANOGAN – Spring can signal the emergence of hungry bears looking for readily available food to replace the calories lost during winter hibernation. Feeding bears and other large carnivores, either intentionally or unintentionally, is illegal in Washington. A 2012 law addresses “negligently feeding, Rogers attempting to feed, or attracting large wild carnivores to land or a building” and another addresses intentionally feeding or attempting to Christensen feed such animals. “This law was established mostly for the cases of intentional feedings, which are common,” said Rich Beausoleil, bear and cougar specialist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We never intended this law to be used as a hammer, but after being warned on more than one occasion, unintentional feeding can also result in a fine.” “What I have learned over the last few years is that inadvertent and intentional feeding of bears leads to problem bears,” Okanogan County-based Department of Wildlife Sgt. Dan Christensen said. “Illegal baiting activity and failure to maintain home garbage in a manner that does not attract large animal scavenging creates attractants for calorie-hungry bears coming out of hibernation. Until those native plants and berries develop, the bears will seek out a high-calorie diet that we throw out,” he said. State and county rules governing garbage storage have been in place since the 1940s and “maintaining a trailer filled to the top with garbage and living in bear
Bear necessities ...........................................................................................2 Small critters can be a concern....................................................................3 Dry climate makes for thirsty plants .............................................................4 Upgrading curb appeal can add value to home ...........................................5 Drippy faucets waste water, cost extra.........................................................6 Garlic takes extra care .................................................................................7 As temperatures rise, so do vehicles’ numbers............................................8 Down and dirty: Creating your own compost at home .................................9 New to gardening? Interest is key..............................................................10
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Animal Hospital of Omak The Chronicle
A bear saunters through the undergrowth off state Highway 155 south of Omak. country just do not mix,” he said. “We have found that once those attractants are gone, our call load for problem bears also reduces.” He said remotely developed areas that don’t enforce garbage collection measures have created those artificial food sources. “Outside of illegal bear-baiting activity, those two areas have often been found to be the source of problem bears,” Christensen said. Beausoleil said he sees three attractants that cause 95 percent of the human-bear conflicts, and if people would eliminate them, most issues would be eliminated. Those attractants are garbage, bird seed and fruit trees. “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem this spring,”
Spring Home and Garden © 2014 The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle Owned and operated by Eagle Newspapers Inc. Roger Harnack, editor and publisher Teresa Myers, advertising manager P.O. Box 553, Omak, WA 98841 618 Okoma Drive, Omak, Wash. 98841 509-826-1110 voice 800-572-3446 toll free 509-826-5819 fax www.omakchronicle.com
said Lorna Smith, Western Wildlife Outreach executive director. “Don’t let your inattention lead to a bear becoming habituated to humanprovided food and losing its natural fear of humans. A bear that doesn’t leave when humans approach is likely doomed to be destroyed.” Okanogan County Sheriff Frank
See Bears 3
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