A Bear on my porch!

[paula1961]

WOW!!! I would be scared to death! Be careful Judy and for sure don't walk your babies too far. Are they black bears? How big are they?

[DianaB]

Oh my goodness .......I would be so upset to have bears that close.....especially on my front porch!!! I would get some bear spray to keep them away especially if you're out walking the dogs!! Is there someone you can call when they get up on your porch? I would have been calling the police to come and do something!!!!! A bear hunt should help thin some of them out. Whew......just make sure you keep yourself safe!!!

[gja1000]

Like Lindsay, I would suggest you get some bear spray - just to be sure. We take it to Alaska with us as any time you are fishing in a river, you may be competing with the bears for the fish!

[Blueyes]

OK...What is in bear spray?

[gja1000]

It looks like a small fire extinguisher. It sprays a stream of super hot pepper spray quite a long distance so as to deter a bear from eating you!

[judy]

Thanks Gayle! I just went to Cabela's site, and found the bear spray. Is pepper spray as good? I will be getting a can of either bear spray or pepper spray.

I also hear that putting ammonia in the garbage deters them from wanting to eat it. I think an ammonia soaked towel in the garbage room will help.

I've been looking it up, and the main things that attract bears are garbage, bird feeders, and grills. My grill is on the deck, but I can clean it and bring the drippings pan inside.

I looked online and we do have a bear hunting season in the fall. One
bear/license/year is allowed. NJ is having a statewide bear hunt. I don't know what their regulations are.

I think the best I can do is to make my house as unappealing as possible, so the bears don't keep coming back.

I am going to ask who to call if I hear a bear again. I don't know if the sheriff will come or not.

[gja1000]

Judy, the reason you need actual Bear Spray is because it shoots the stream a much farther distance than regular pepper spray. You don't want to to let them get too close and if they seem like they are not going to back off, you want to spray them before they get too close to you.

Lindsay can probably give you another reason why bear spray is preferable to pepper spray. Bear spray is expensive $40-$50 per can. We only take it when we are going hiking in Alaska, and have never had to use it, so we are pretty novice when it comes to bear spray. We did encounter a bear on a trail in Colorado a few years ago. They tell you not to run, but I ran back down that tail as fast as can be! (we didn't have any bear spray with us)