Brown Bears, throughout coastal communities in southeast Alaska, are attracted to dumps and garbage cans. I never considered it a "bear problem", but rather, a "people problem". But, weaning the bears off the free food can be challenging. It eventually leads to problems, with people getting beat up, and the offending bears getting killed. There are some nice-looking bears, but the surrounding scenery is not so photogenic.





Jack

I agree with you all day long about in most cases it is a human problem. Some beautiful color bears to boot!!

Thank's for sharing,when I would go up muskie fishing out of Morson ON sometimes I would swing by there dump and watch the bears from a distant.Interesting to see the pecking order displayed at time's and none at other times.Have a good one,Jack.

That last one ain't missed no meals ...the dump in this area has a high perimeter fence , as well as big metal dumpsters with huge closing lids.

I've seen shots of polar bears at local dumpsites too. They aren't very white !

Thanks for the share, Jack. I think you're getting needed rain this weekend. From seeing the local sat news in weather.

Yeah, to me it's rather disgusting to see a regal brown bear or grizzly tearing through a plastic garbage bag, finally sitting down and enjoying diaper porridge from a huggy. Not quite the same as seeing them on a salmon stream or a huckleberry hillside.

Agreed, Jack.

There is no shortage of inland griz here , along with every colour phase black imagined. They travel all over these ranges. An amount of griz that are taken out of Glacier Park, are flown here and dropped off...sometimes creating "challenges" for the locals who live here. A few actually travel the distance back to the park.

So folks here are used to making sure they don't make it easy for them to find food. It does make the skin on your arms raise in goosie bumps , when the occasional large track is seen right on the estate, long claw impressions and all.

This sign is on my road that also winds back up into the nearest ranges. Forest service road. The intro to my world.

Always fun to run across their tracks. Less fun when you're packing meat on your back.
I agree with the sentiment about seeing them at dumps. It is an unequally yoked meeting of two worlds. It detracts from what they should be. Humans and bears both can become a bit nasty after being on welfare too long.

Size 12's for comparison

That is exactly the reason I have never been excited about eating one!

I'll eat just about.anything. Roadkill skunk? Not bad! However, I've tried probably a dozen or more interior grizzlies and coastal brown bears. To me, it has a weird, undescribable taste that, to me, is not pleasant. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever had a black bear that wasn't excellent table fare.

Jack

Never ate grizzly,I agree all the black bear I've ate have been really excellent table fare.I've never ate a old black bear either, 4 to 6 year old are what I have eaten,the rib's are GREAT!

When they closed the dumps in Yellowstone a good percentage of the population was destroyed. They didn’t know how to survive in the wild.

The dirty diapers must really "stick to their ribs"!

Depends......

Have to agree about black bear being good grub.
BUT.....I have also eaten some pretty tasty soup made from the front feet of inland grizzly. Maybe the connective tissue tastes different than the more lean cuts. Maybe the secret herbs and spices too......

Slow simmer those bones overnight and make great bone collagen. Just as beef , deer or chook bones. Except stowing away a lot more jars of it.

The best thing for the whole body on the planet...bone collagen .

It's hogs down here showing up for a free meal.

Don't know how it's done up there but our landfills are pretty tight on compacting and covering before end of shift.

In many Alaska villages, it's lucky if they cover once a month. I know in my village in the Interior, it was...well...never.

Jack

While the allure of seeing them in the dumps is hard to pass up, partly for lack of entertainment in the smaller communities, I am always saddened to see them living off of trash. It must be horribly unhealthy for them and I always think that is not how a bear is meant to live.

I have witnessed a woman hand feeding a huge bear Cheerios at the Angoon city dump through a small opening in the passenger window.

A lot of black bears came into the dump in Galena. You could go and see half a dozen at a time. But it had good picking for them. I saw pickup loads of salmon and whole moose dumped there.

Dang, I wouldn't think native Alaskan would throw away anything edible?

I know nothing about bears admittedly. Would it not be feasible to put a couple of strands of high tensile electric fence around the active dump area with suitable voltage?

There’s plenty of “let’s complain about the government” threads to choose from. This one is about bears at the dump. Be nice to see at least a few threads stay on topic.

We had 23 bears at our dump a couple years ago. I’ve watched many Cubs grow up and continue to use the dumps. Females that grew up on the dump menu usually teach their Cubs to do the same. Seen a cub with a glass jar stuck on its head and seen a few adults with garbage bags hanging out their…well out their opposite end the head is on. Lol. There was an old female with a bad foot that was a regular for years at the aklavik dump. Waiting for muskrat411 to find this thread. He’s one of the leading experts on dump bears. You know Remington slugs and rubber bullets are both green? Lol. Right Ian?
I don’t mind dump bears though. I make $400-600 to skin them when they have to be put down in town. Nasty job but someone has to do it. Usually full of bite marks. Infection. Stink obviously.