A brown bear sow was spotted in Skagway this week near 9th and Broadway. Photo by Officer James Michels.
Autumn in Skagway means it’s time for nearby bears to wander into town and fill up on easy meals. Fruit trees, trash bins full of garbage, and bird feeders are all fair game for brown and black bears. A state biologist shared some tips on how to avoid attracting bears when they’re at their most irritable.
Skagway is right in the middle of bear country. But for the most part, residents don’t see many rambling through town until the fall colors turn the hillsides to rusty shades of yellow and orange. Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch says this is the time of year bears go into hyperphagia which is a phase that precedes hibernation.
“They’re just conserving energy and packing on as much weight as they possibly can before they crawl into their den and not eat for months,” said Koch.
So those bears are looking for cheap, easy-to-find meals.
“Fruit that’s on the ground and things like that. Garbage is always an issue if it’s not secure. Another thing that can be an easy high-calorie meal is bird feeders you know it’s not the time of year to have bird feeders out it’s still too early you know I wait at least until November for that,” said Koch.
Chickens and other livestock are also attractants, and Koch says electric fences around chicken coops are a great deterrent.
“Make sure it’s working properly test it, and has fresh batteries or is plugged in and working. You know they get a meal and they learn where it came from and they’re liable to just come back or look to other similar food sources,” said Koch.
They’ll do the same with trash cans. Even if your food waste goes into the composter, a bear’s sense of smell is highly advanced.
“It’s better than a bloodhound. It’s just amazing, incredible sense of smell. And so if there’s meat juice in there, they’re going to smell it. And if they’ve already gotten garbage somewhere else, sometimes they knock cans over just to check them,” said Koch.
Skagway Police Chief Jerry Reddick says there have been a few bears spotted in town, but as yet, there haven’t been any signs of them getting into trash.
“We had one report of some trash over between eighth and ninth in the alleyway between Maine and State, but I think the crows were the ones that were spreading that around,” said Reddick.
He also said bears have been spotted on the north end of town by 19th Avenue and again over in the city hall area.
“The one that has been spotted by our officer Michaels is going to be a brown bear with cubs so that that’s the cause for concern is anytime you have a mama bear, she tends to be a little more aggressive when the babies are around,” said Reddick.
He also said there haven’t been any issues so far and that his department employs a non-lethal method for shooing away nuisance bears.
“What we used last year that was very effective was a paintball gun. So there were no chances of sending a live round into an animal. It was very effective, we could put more rounds on target and not effectively hurt the bear,” said Reddick.
Five years ago a Skagway officer responded to a call in Dyea and wounded a bear while hazing it, that’s a process where the officer will try to scare the bear away with a beanbag or other non-lethal rounds. That bear lived another two days before it was finally put down. Similarly earlier this month a black bear was injured while being hazed by the Haines chief of police and was then euthanized.
Reddick says with the paintball gun approach, there are fewer chances of wounding the animal.
“And you know, anytime you’re using less-lethal like that with a bear, you always want to have two officers so that you have the lethal option if the bear turns and charges. So it’s, it’s usually going to be a two-person call, anytime we have a bear sighting,” said Reddick.
So far Skagway police haven’t received any calls that have required the hazing of a bear. But there have been multiple sightings and lots of scat around town.
The municipality has announced its Annual Harvest Day on October 9. Residents are encouraged to harvest any remaining fruits and vegetables from their properties and help others that may need assistance.
Also, municipal garbage pickup has been pushed back to a 7 a.m. start time on Mondays and Tuesdays, depending on where you live in town. Municipal officials ask that you put trash out in the morning of and not the night before.
*** This article has been updated to clarify that it was the Haines Police Chief that wounded a black bear earlier this month. ***
