With lengthening days, it’s only a matter of time before Kenai Peninsula bears start coming out of hibernation. It’s a tough time of year for local brown and black bears, as salmon and berries are both months away. In the meantime, many bears turn to more convenient sources of food, usually left out by humans.
The list of bear attractants is long, including suet bird feeders, dog food, livestock, especially rabbit hutches and chicken coops, or garbage.
And while bear-human encounters usually end poorly for the bears, the Defenders of Wildlife has a series of lectures next week (March 17-19) on the Kenai Peninsula about how to coexist with them, using non-lethal deterrents.
Nicole Whittington-Evans is the Alaska program director for Defenders of Wildlife in Anchorage.
“Defenders of Wildlife is partnering with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to offer three workshops that will focus on simple bear safety tips and how to build an electric fence and the supplies needed,” she said.
Whittington-Evans says electric fences are just one of the non-lethal techniques and tools Defenders of Wildlife promotes to allow living among bears peaceably.
“We have a long standing program in the western states working with many livestock owners with respect to brown bears and also wolves," she said. "Bears, for example, come up onto an electric fence, if their nose touches the fence, then the bear gets a shock and they learn that this is not a good place for them to be.”
To help increase the use of electric fences, Defenders of Wildlife has an incentive program that picks up half the cost of installing one -- up to $500.
“There are many non lethal deterrence measures that can be used, particularly with Kenai Peninsula brown bears which is considered an isolated population," she said. "We can transition toward using more non lethal deterrence measures and away from always going to a lethal measure.”
The application for an electric fence subsidy is available on the group’s web page, and more information can be had at the workshops next week. The first one will be March 17 in Kenai, followed the next night in Soldotna, and March 19 in Seward. The workshops, in conjunction with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, are open to all.