Bear stole my berries
By reddog25770
@reddog25770 (212)
United States
January 13, 2013 7:40am CST
For the past few years I have been working on put in a berry patch. Every spring I buy a few berry bushes to plant at the bottom of my yard. There is quite a few blueberry bushes and severl black berry bushes. Last spring I should have had enough berries to be able to freeze some for the winter. I was very excited when the berries were ready for picking. It would have been a huge savings on our grocery budget with the cost of berries being so high. Unfortunatly when the berries were ready for picking a large black bear came through and ate most of them. Was wondering if there is anything you can do to stop bears from stealing your berries? I wouldn't mind sharing if he only ate a few but he stole most of them.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@LaDeBoheme (2004)
• United States
13 Jan 13
Once a bear knows where there's food, he will return. Unfortunately, not much keeps a bear away from food especially berries which they have an affinity for. They have even been known to rip open locked cars in an attempt to get to food.
You are going to have to take serious measures such as fencing as owlwings suggested. Either that or contact the game warden. In some cases, they will relocate a nuisance bear or in extreme cases, destroy it.
@reddog25770 (212)
• United States
13 Jan 13
Thanks for the advice. I think I'll just have to let him have the berries. I do not want him destroyed or moved and I'm not much for fences. We have a really large yard and I don't want it fenced. Enjoy watching the animals come thru too much to have a fence that would prevent that. I'll just have to put more bushes in and hope he leaves me some. If he because too much of a problem I'll have to get me brother in law to shoot him during hunting season. He and his boys always go out. I just didn't want to do that. I like to watch the bears, deer, turkeys and things that come in the yard.
@LaDeBoheme (2004)
• United States
13 Jan 13
You don't have to fence in your whole yard, just your berry patch. You can still watch the wildlife come and go, but the bear would soon get the message after a jolt or two.
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
13 Jan 13
reddog25770
Ohhh I have to smile for the bear, but feel sad for you. All that work and you were counting on having berries...Maybe you could plant more and just fence them off of creat some type of barrier...so they would be harder for the bear to reach..Good uck..I love blueberries and they are so healthy for you!!
@reddog25770 (212)
• United States
14 Jan 13
I like the bear too. He's a lot of fun to watch. Hes gotta go a couple hundred pounds. Hes quite the large bear. The berry bushes run along an old stone wall on the woods edge. Thinking maybe I'll just put a patch on the other side of the property and see if maybe he will stay where he is and I can have the others I don't mind sharing with the wild life. Winters here can be tough for them. I would just like him to leave me some.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
13 Jan 13
Black bears are, I believe, a protected species and, besides, very determined and intelligent. About the only thing which would be practical to protect your berries (which bears love, of course, especially when preparing for the winter) is electric fencing.
This site has the most comprehensive information I could find: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-200/420-200.html
@reddog25770 (212)
• United States
13 Jan 13
hi wowlwings,
Thanks for the response. Bears aren't a protected species in our area lots of people shoot them in hunting season here. The fencing info was very helpful, but I'm not sure that I would want to put in an electric fence. We have a lot of wild life here and I love to watch it in the yard. I was hoping there was a more natural way to protect my berries. Maybe a kind of plant or something that bears avoided.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
13 Jan 13
Hiya reddog,
What a shame about the berries and I love them too and they are very expensive here frozen or fresh.
See if you can find some kind of fencing well I don´t really know I would go about it myself to tell you the truth what about putting some kind of wall up and the rest wire fencing enough to make the bear feel uncomfortable every time he tries to go after the berries?
Better luck next time.xxx
