Pet food is a super-concentrated source of protein, fat, nutrients and calories. That’s why pet food is super-attractive to bears. In fact, pet food is one of the top three things that attract bears to neighborhoods and homes.
A bear’s daily calorie needs quadruple in late summer and early fall. That means a bear that normally needs 5,000 calories a day must now find and consume about 20,000 calories each and every day to gain enough weight to safely hibernate for the winter.
A bear would need to find and eat 447 acorns or 2,367 blueberries to get 1,700 calories. That’s about the same number of calories in just one pound of dog chow. A 12-pound bag delivers a whole day’s worth of calories in a handy carry-off container.
Emptying a bowl of pet food or getting their paws on a whole bag teaches bears that calories are a lot faster and easier to come by around homes and in neighborhoods than out in the woods.
8 Tips for Protecting Pets (and People)
Bears have incredibly sensitive noses, so even an empty food bowl can attract a hungry bear. Bears are also very smart and quick learners, so you can be sure that after it licks the bowl clean, it will visit other homes in your neighborhood looking for more easy pickings and come back to your place looking for more. You can’t blame the bear for discovering an easy food source. But you can help keep pets, people and bears safe.
1. Feed pets indoors whenever possible. A screened porch is not “indoors.” Read more...