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.

The key to bears is run the hottest, max joule, charger you can. That fur is a good insulator, and the best teacher is a punch in the nose so bait the wire. Hit him in the face he backs up, swat him on the rump and he runs forward so arrange how it gets hit.

This. Spent 40 years in Southeast Alaska, and was very involved with the Department of fish and game there, including bear problems. Tried pretty much every gimmick, device, noise, lights, even dogs. #1 Rule: Eliminate food sources!
Some dogs, (particularly the Karelian bear dogs), can be effective, but be careful where that dog chases that bear to. Electric fence can also be effective for small areas, such as a camp, but must have no easy food source. If not, the bear will likely just tolerate the shock for the food. Bears get used to crazy lights, loud noises, scare crows, etc. Do NOT shoot bears with buckshot. You will create a dangerous bear.
It is really simple. Take down the bird feeder. The birds don't need it right now anyway.

If running a hot wire the rule is always on, always. Believe it not critters can tell if it's off. Don't know how but I've witnessed deer cross a dead fence that was hot just days before.

Funny thing is cattle must be dumber than deer, at least the ones that never leave a pasture. That last batch dad and I had went three days with no fence at all after a tornado took it out and they never so much as stepped across. Cattle that get moved around will test a fence.

I don’t put much for feed out as I do live in their back yard. They rarely come through, only at night just crossing the yard. That being said, if them 3yr olds get stupid, they get removed. Those can eventually be the dangerous ones.
Every now & then we’ll put out some bird feeders and they usually leave them alone. If they hit it once, we take the food away for a while.

I would think rubber buckshot would make them more fearful of humans not more dangerous

My guess... White meant regular buckshot that would just wound them and thus make them potentially dangerous depending on the wound... rubber shot in the butt shouldn't to that....
White can correct us if I'm wrong....

12 gauge, no choke, bird shot in the butt at about 40 yards; works great on brown bear, and they don't come back. Other non-lethal 12 gauge methods mentioned above work too if you can find the ammo.

6 0r 18 joul

No not buckshot. A beanbag round is essentially some #9 shot wrapped in a ballistic material and loaded into a 12 ga case. Impact rounds is the correct terminology I guess.

I have used them on cantankerous moose in my yard. Whack one in the ribs or the butt with a bean bag and follow it up with a couple of "cracker" rounds over its head and they don't come back.

I did not suggest the cracker shells because of potential fire hazard.

Looks like there are several locations where you might find the munitions near you.

https://www.defense-technology.com/product/drag-stabilized-12-gauge-bean-bag-round/

4th of July coming up, lay in a supply of Roman candles, with shrieking whistle and report.

Footsnare and 22 in the earole.

Funny you mention that because 1 neigbor threw more fire crackers today in an effort to spook it if it's still in the area.

It didn't work for you.

…. Go out there and slap that sob in the mouth

Some bears get use to noisy dogs ( like yappy little dogs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but a hot wire,, they learn

If you can get some thin electrical conducting wire ,, a real bad neighborhood dog got strrattled on my wire,,, he never ever got close to our place again...
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We own a small property in north central WI. During this time of the year the home owners in the small communitiy discontinue filling their bird feeders for about 2 weeks or so. The bears leave most of the time and the birds or other birds do come back. Bear dog training in WI starts July 1 and goes to Aug 31. Once the dogs start moving the bears around things change. In WI the northern zones can hunt with hounds. Where you live you can train, but not run dogs during the season. Find a bear dog owner near you in a few weeks and let him run his hounds. If you keep feeding the birds the bear will be near by. Being chased by hounds my well change is behavior patterns.

Bryce

I would keep 2 livestock guardian dogs with your goats, especially if you're going to let them kid. If you don't, you'll likely have problems with bears, coyotes or stray dogs at some point.

Keith