BOZEMAN - Bears are showing up all over Bozeman — from the Four Corners area to the M Trail — and the city is urging residents to take steps to keep both people and wildlife safe.
Russ Ward, superintendent for the City of Bozeman Solid Waste Division, says the uptick is noticeable.
"This year seems to be a little heavier."
Ward says the animals are being drawn in by an easy opportunity.
"They're looking for food. An easy food source."
Bozeman bears are hungry — and your trash is on the menu. Here's how to help keep them safe.
But the consequences of bears finding that food can be severe.
"A fed bear is a dead bear. There's just no way to rehabilitate a bear after it's been in the trash and everything else."
Ward says the single most effective thing residents can do is keep trash secured until pickup day.
"The best thing anybody can do is to not have their trash out. It should be behind a locked gate or in a person's garage until the day of their trash pickup."
For residents who don't have a garage or locked gate, the city offers bear-resistant trash cans and bear-resistant organics bins. The lids on the containers are latched and do not come open without squeezing a latch at the bottom.
The bear-resistant bins cost an extra $6.06 a month. The city has offered them for nearly 5 years, but only about 600 are currently in use on Bozeman streets. The city is hoping to increase that number.
Bozeman resident Frank has seen the bear activity firsthand — including evidence left behind in his own yard. He already takes precautions at home.
"We've had them in the garden; we've had them right here, obviously. Taking in the bird feeders at night is important."
Frank also uses a bear-proof trash can.
"Not my trash can because it's bear-proof."
He says the animals deserve consideration from the community.
"The bears deserve to be here as much as we deserve to be here."
To learn how to get a bear-resistant bin, click here.
