Tri-City residents living near greenbelts should take extra precautions with bird seed to avoid conflicts with bears.
That's the advice of Randy Solomon, longtime owner of the Backyard Bird Centre in Port Moody, who said people shouldn't be worried about putting out bird feeders as long as they place them in hard-to-reach locations.
"Bears are an issue when you've got a greenbelt area," he said. "In that case, the best protection is to suspend [feeders]."
He recommends hanging a bird feeder about 12 feet off the ground from a 150 lb. test fishing line strung between two trees or a house. If the bird-feeder is hard to reach, bears will get discouraged and move on.
"Bears are looking for the highest payoff," Solomon says.
He disagrees with some experts who recommend dispensing with bird feeders altogether in greenbelt areas or restricting them to the winter months only. "You miss a few [bird] species if you just do it in the winter," he said.
He also recommends using good-quality hulled bird seed that won't leave a mess and the Nite Guard motion sensor that sends out a flashing red light that discourages bears and other night creatures. It costs $39.99 and gives the animal the sense that it is being watched, Solomon said.
