Bear-proofing Your Home Prevents Great Damage

4/13/2022 (Permalink)

Bear Break-ins can cause a lot of damage. Do your part to keep yourself and your home safe.

As a damage restoration company, we are here not only to repair the damage but to help you prevent damage to your home or business.

One type of damage specific to our area is bear break-ins. If this happens to you, there are steps you should take to stay safe. We want to give you tips to help prevent the damage a bear could cause, but if you do have property damage due to a bear break-in, we can help.

Do your part to protect your home and property by preventing conflicts with bears.

Many bears enter homes through an unlocked or open door or window, so make sure to close and lock all windows and doors when you leave the house, especially at night.

If you must leave downstairs windows open, install sturdy grates or bars. Screens don’t keep out bears. Keep garage doors and windows closed and locked at night and when you’re not home. Don’t leave your garage door open when you’re not outside. Install extra-sturdy doors if you have a freezer, refrigerator, pet food, or other attractants in your garage.

Keep car doors and windows closed and locked if you park outside. Make sure there’s nothing with an odor in your vehicle, including candy, gum, air fresheners, trash, and lotions.

Bears are great climbers — remove any tree limbs that might provide access to upper-level decks and windows. n

Replace exterior lever-style door handles with good quality round door knobs that bears can’t pull or push open.

Put on talk radio (not music) when you leave home; the human voice startles most bears.

Get Rid of Attractants.

Bears follow their super-sensitive noses to anything that smells like food and can follow scents from up to five miles away. Don’t leave trash out overnight unless it’s in a bear-proof container. 

Teach Bears They’re Not Welcome 

If a bear comes into your yard or close to your home, do yourself and the bear a big favor, and scare it away. A confident attitude plus loud noises like a firm yell, clapping your hands, banging on pots and pans, or blowing an air horn sends most bears running. If a bear enters your home, open doors and windows and make sure it can leave the same way it got in. Don’t approach the bear or block escape routes. If a bear won’t leave, call your local CPW office. If a bear presents an immediate threat to human safety, call 911.

Call your local Parks and Wildlife Office for more information.

If a bear has damaged your home, call SERVPRO at 775-588-2355.