# Anyone live in areas with bears etc?



## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

I know this is pretty unrelated buuuuut, me and my OH were saying how scary it would be living somewhere that had bears, lol. I'm from boring England, the biggest predator my chickens have are foxes.. I just can't imagine thinking "I'd better make sure the coops locked incase that grizzly comes back" haha  
Even wolves would creep me out ALOT. 
So are bears a big problem, do they sniff around a lot?


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

Yes, we have bears, wolves, cougars, coyotes, bobcats, fishers, bald eagles, hawks, and falcons. I'm sure there is more but these are what we or our neighbors have seen in this area. So far our biggest problem is with the Bald Eagles since we can't do anything about them and they are federally protected.


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## GenFoe (Apr 3, 2013)

This is at a house of a little boy who goes to school with my oldest daughter. Insane!! There are so many bears around this year.


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

Oh and this is our property that we free range on 
I tried to take a pic of a wild turkey but it seen me a ran.


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## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

Omg that is insane! I once got creeped out at a mole hill on the garden cos I thought something was nesting on the ground near the chickens haha... I would be a nervous wreck living where there are so many dangerous animals!!


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## Reinerchick (May 10, 2013)

GenFoe said:


> This is at a house of a little boy who goes to school with my oldest daughter. Insane!! There are so many bears around this year.


I had that happen to me when I was living in Idaho! Very terrifying to wake up in the middle of the night and see that! Lol!


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## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

What would you do in a situation like that  

Can the bears possibly get in? I'd be soooo scared!


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

Loopychicklady said:


> Omg that is insane! I once got creeped out at a mole hill on the garden cos I thought something was nesting on the ground near the chickens haha... I would be a nervous wreck living where there are so many dangerous animals!!


Its not so bad. Most of them come out at dusk or during the night. I just keep my girls locked up extra tight at night. As for my dogs, for bedtime potty, I turn on the yard lights first, make some noise, then go out with them keeping them very close to me and the house. Nosy dogs at dark find smelly skunks making for a really nasty night! Recently there have been 3 confirmed wolf attacks killing big pet dogs in a week about 4 hours North West of me.  Incident happened locally about a year ago as well. I have seen wolves & coyotes during the day. At the moment wolves are protected in my area however, I will defend my "kids" and will not hesitate to shoot. Not uncommon to hear a random gun shot at any point and time of day or night in my area.


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## GenFoe (Apr 3, 2013)

I would have a heart attack if that was my house!! We have a lot of foxes, bears, coyotes, raccoons and skunks in our area. But I've never seen bear or coyote myself. My husband has seen a few around our house. I would probably just think they were a dog.


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## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

7chicks said:


> Its not so bad. Most of them come out at dusk or during the night. I just keep my girls locked up extra tight at night. As for my dogs, for bedtime potty, I turn on the yard lights first, make some noise, then go out with them keeping them very close to me and the house. Nosy dogs at dark find smelly skunks making for a really nasty night! Recently there have been 3 confirmed wolf attacks killing big pet dogs in a week about 4 hours North West of me.  Incident happened locally about a year ago as well. I have seen wolves & coyotes during the day. At the moment wolves are protected in my area however, I will defend my "kids" and will not hesitate to shoot. Not uncommon to hear a random gun shot at any point and time of day or night in my area.


Of course, you'll have guns there, that's also quite alien to me, anything scary on my garden I have a mop or broom, that's about it haha


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

I forget, you get to have the more free range use of guns do you? Hunting is a big thing and part of sustainable living where I am. Always something in season year round to hunt.


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## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

7chicks said:


> I forget, you get to have the more free range use of guns do you? Hunting is a big thing and part of sustainable living where I am. Always something in season year round to hunt.


I'm in the uk, there are strict licenses here for guns and I wouldn't know how to use one, :s they are uncommon unless you're a farmer, and even then the only threat are stray dogs.. The big thing here is fox hunting on horseback, it was made illegal but people still do it


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## valleychicks (May 26, 2013)

We have black bears, coyotes (pests!), raccoon, weasels/mink, foxes and lots of birds of prey. I have lots of locks on my coop and run!


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## hennypenny68 (Apr 30, 2013)

Yup I to have black bears cougars, wolves, mink, pine Martin, raccoons, bald eagles have been really bad and I had a cougar about a month ago 10 feet off my deck. We also have several types of hawks and owls also but I wouldn't change a thing I feel safer among all that then living in the city around people lol.


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

Yup, bears aren't too bad, usually. It's a respect issue. You have to respect them, and know that you can't have trash laying around to attract them.

I wrote in a past thread of my bear year when we lived deeper in the woods:


> In all the loses I've had over the years to predators, the worst was the year of the bear. It started early when I woke up one night to a weird sound. I woke up the husband and we ran outside in our skivvies. He was in just undies and muck boots with the 12 gauge and I was in a thin summer nightie, muck boots and had the high powered flashlight. He had a blast or two when we heard the bear crashing through the brush behind the coop. He destroyed the whole roof by pulling the edges up around the whole thing, then he just punched through above the roosts.
> 
> The chickens were quite smart and they all jumped off the roosts and ran out the little door to their enclosed run, so they weren't there when the bear stuck his arm in "fishing". We had to replace the whole roof that day and we booby trapped the edges with chicken wire, so if he stuck his nose up and under the roof he would get his nose torn up and the panels over the roost became metal. I hung noisy things on the ends, so if anything was on the roof or moved it in anyway it would make clanging and jingling noises.
> 
> ...


When it comes to raising chickens I would be more worried about fishers, mink, weasels and raccoons because they can fit through small openings. If you have a good ground cover the chickens will watch for hawks themselves. However wolves and mountain lions would probably throw me for a loop. We have coyotes, and I have heard them very close to the house, but I have never seen one. The same with foxes. I have photos of fox babies that were living in a ruble house, and I still can't believe they let me get as close as they did to photograph them!

In the last two or three years we have now known people first hand who have spotted mountain lions within 3 miles of where I live. Ever since meeting my very first bear one night (only about 8-ish feet away) I am in the habit of having my dog and a flashlight outside. It can get very dark here and I really don't want to trip over something that might be unhappy!

I have heard of local people hearing noises at night an finding bears in their kitchens and a broken back door, bear prints on windows etc. It comes down to too many bears in too small of an area. As long as they have their space they will leave you alone for the most part.


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## matt_kas (Mar 11, 2013)

We have coyotes here in Pennsylvania they dug into my friends turkey run and killed there entire flock! Feathers everywhere!


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## Loopychicklady (May 22, 2013)

Wow, I feel really lucky living here now, in some ways at least! I don't have to constantly worry about my animals, but this country is rubbish in every other way haha  
I can't help thinking though that it would be pretty exciting seeing a bear!
Our coop actually has a lift off lid, not secured or anything, too heavy for chickens to lift off, but sometimes it rattles if its windy! I know I couldn't be that carefree living elsewhere.. Can bears climb fences then?


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## matt_kas (Mar 11, 2013)

Bears are excellent climbers.


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