This bear's been a headache in the neighborhood lately. It seems scrawny, overly hungry & not overly scared of people. It's not afraid to move during the day. I'm worried about my 6 buckthorn eating goats on our 8 acre homestead. Any advice? Last night at 10:45 the neighbor tried scaring it away with a cook pan and wooden utensil (like a drum), but it was unphased. Some neighbors have removed their bird feeders, others not. Someone told me to pee by the goat pen & put dirty clothes near the pen. I bet even this thin bear could knock down the cattle panels that I move around the woods.

Thanks

12 gauge and rubber buckshot. It works great. They make rubber slugs too but most of my issues are in the dark. You welt them in the South end good and one more for good measure as they are running away and they just don't come back, ever! I have a source for it locally but it is just Law Enforcement "Non-Lethal" rounds.

12 gauge with bean bag rounds

A good mouthy cur dog. That or the hottest hot wire you can put up, or both.

Thanks for the tips so far. I'll look into some of that.

1 issue I have is I move the goats every few days because of how fast they clear the ~buckthorn.

Livestock Guardian Dogs (large) are willing to take on a bear, single or better in pairs ... Maremma, Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd, ect.

Melissa our LGD tangled with a black bear, bear never came back.

Do you have an electric fencer?

A radio playing near the goats may help keep Boo Boo away too. There are endless possibilities for responses to what type of music here. The softball has been lobbed..............ASeriously, get a box of rubber buckshot and make sure all the neighbors get a couple of rounds. At close range you can actually watch the fat ripple on impact. They don't come back. PRO TIP: They are going to run fast so make sure there is nothing of value in the way because they aren't going to go around it, they will go THROUGH it.

The ONLY reason the bear is there is for the food. Remove the food source and the bear will leave. Notify all neighbors to do the same. Some neighbors may like watching the bear, and will not cooperate with removing bird feeders, pet food bowls, etc. At that point it’s time to call local authorities to help put pressure on the neighbor. Bears are no different than most other nuisance wildlife - it is either food or habitat drawing them to the point of being a problem. Modify the habitat or remove the food source l.

rubber buck shot or slugs

https://www.midwayusa.com/interest-hub/12-gauge-rubber-ammo


and a good hot wire around your perimeter, you can help educate them with some foil with a wipe of bacon grease on it on the wire , you want to make sure they are on a good ground when they hit so bait it right after a rain. make sure you have good ground rods.

No, but I've been pondering it.

It's on my list to look into.
And actually, today 1 of my family members put a radio by the pen, so it's ~funny you mention that.

Thanks everyone for the tips so far.

have video of a racoon coming up to a hot wire outside the turkey enclosure last year he stops pops his head up , back to all 4s and moves one body length closer , hear that tell tail click in the wire stands again and turns and leaves he knew he was coming up on a hot wire.

The professional goat herders that hire out for invasive removal use electric fencing as the sole fence. They find it quick to move, which is 1 of the reasons I'd been pondering switching to it. If it deters canines, bobcats & bears, I might consider it even more.

The million dollar question is if it will keep Vinke away from the goats.

are the goat herders using the poly netting electrified or just a few strands ?

we keep pigs in with 2 strands as long as they have food they don't care to try that hard to get out.

started with hog panels as weaners and then put a hot wire about 8 inches inside the panels they got used to rubbing up on , they got educated very quick that way.

Electrical poly netting.

We all like to feed the birds. Take the food away and they will move on.

we run the poly netting for turkeys

it doesn't shock hot enough in my opinion and not just because I can grab hold and untie and tie sections together hot , but because the birds don't respect it after a while

we run a separate charger with a wire about 8-10 inches off the ground inside and out , inside the poly netting the turkeys respect it and outside we have video of coyote and racoon turning at the wire.

we are running 2 chargers one for poly net one for the HOT wire which is a single strand of poly twine with push in stakes

Did some work for a guy that leases goats for brush removal in Atlanta. He uses the net fencing with built in step in posts and a hot solar charger. He might move goats once a week so lots of putting up and taking down fence.

Beekeepers north of me and south of me wouldn't be able to keep bears out of the yard if not for electric. Most use t posts and electric rope as bees aren't as mobile. Almost all on solar and many run hot wire/ground wire to mitigate having issues with the grounding rods.