BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – With spring comes the return of some nosey neighbors who may take a gander at your garbage.
After months of hibernation, bears emerge in the spring with an appetite and begin the hunt for calorie-rich food.
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation is reminding residents to secure any outdoor food sources that might bring bears into residential areas.
That includes securing garbage cans, feeding pets inside, and even cleaning grease from grills. Backyard animals can also play a role.
“Making sure that your bee hives and apiaries or your chicken coops have a fence around them, electric fence ideally. And removing bird feeders. Bird feeders aren’t really necessary this time of year to feed the birds, there’s going to be plenty of food for birds throughout the spring and summer. And so you can take those bird feeders down so that way bears won’t access them,” said DEC big game biologist Brendan Quirion.
The DEC says you should tell your neighbors about bear activity so they can also take precautions. Officials say feeding bears and doing so intentionally is illegal in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.