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Deterring Bears

If you see a bear in Serene Lakes contact Bear League's 24 hour hotline at 530-525-PAWS (7297) or report it to the Department of Fish and Wildlife through their WIR System which assigns a designated “Investigator” based on the geographic location of the wildlife incident reported. The Investigator may be a Department Biologist or Wildlife Officer (warden) and will receive general notification by email of an assigned WIR incident. Department staff strive to respond to all WIRs in a timely manner. 


The three most effective methods for effectively deterring bears and most wild animals are: removing food sources, using scent deterrents, and hazing. 


Removing Food Sources
  • Store garbage inside, or in a locked garage or sturdy enclosed shed

  • Garbage should be taken out for collection the morning of instead of the night before

  • Feed pets indoors. If you must feed pets outdoors, bring dishes in immediately afterward. Store pet food inside or in a locked garage


Scent Deterrents
  • Pour a small amount of ammonia or bleach over garbage before the bag is closed to mask enticing smells

  • Regularly clean garbage cans with bleach or ammonia and once cans are removed, place scent deterrents in the area to get rid of lingering smells

Hazing

  • Motion-activated alarms (Rex the Barking Dog alarm on Amazon is a good one)

  • If you see a bear, even if it is not getting into anything, make as much noise as possible – air horns, pots and pans, an aluminum can ¼ filled with rocks, car alarms and horns, etc.

  • Use by professionals of non-lethal rounds such as paintballs, cracker shells, etc. when shot at the backside of the bear will sting a habituated bear and encourage it to move out of the area without doing any harm (ask local law enforcement to assist with this if a bear is a regular visitor)

If you see a bear in Serene Lakes contact Bear League's 24 hour hotline at 530-525-PAWS (7297).


Multiple neighbors are reporting this bear over social media, I’m including some information on reducing attractants, discouraging bears from hanging around, bear-proofing properties, etc. which you can share with them. Many of these resources have printable flyers/posters/etc, but they’re of course also easily shared online:

  • Our Wildlife Incident Report (WIR) form can be found at:

    • https://apps.wildlife.ca.gov/WIR/

    • We encourage the public to report incidents of property damage caused by the bear (the reporting party does need to be the property owner)