Want to avoid the annual March bear emergence? Here’s what MassWildlife suggests

With March’s warming weather, Massachusetts’ approximately 4,500 black bears are likely to hungrily leave their dens looking for food. And Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife officials are suggesting measures to ensure that you don’t find any bears lurking for their next meal in your backyard.

Officials are reminding residents in northern Middlesex County, Worcester County, and western Massachusetts — areas where bears have historically been spotted — to remove bird feeders and food sources such as trash and compost, and secure beehives, chicken coops, and livestock with electrical fencing.

“Natural foods such as acorns and other nuts are usually available on the ground, but last year’s fall hard mast crop was meager,” MassWildlife said in a press release. “Bears will often ignore seasonally available natural foods including skunk cabbage in favor of an easy meal at a backyard bird feeder.”

“Bird feeders, unfortunately, are the number one food that bears are attracted to in people’s backyards,” MassWildlife black bear and furbearer biologist Dave Wattles told CBS Boston. “That essentially trains the bears, other than to look for food in the forest, to come up onto decks into neighborhoods.”

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