Conservation Commission Past Events

Over 100 people joined us at the Cornish School to hear Ben’s popular lecture/slideshow on his research with black bears and new endeavors with panda bears.

A few takeaways from his talk:
1. Bears seek out food, not trash: keep kitchen scraps indoors or in a freezer until trash day; clean out grills; don’t feed your pets outdoors. Controlling the smell will help keep the bears away.

2. If you have backyard chickens or bees, surround them with an electric fence. Once bears get zapped, they lose interest in what is on the other side of the fence.

3. If you see a bear in your backyard or while walking through the woods there are a few things to keep in mind. The majority of behavior from the bear is protective; stay still and talk to the bear in a soft voice to let them know that you are not a threat. Signs of chomping teeth, snorting, swatting, or false charging are ways for the bear to delay confrontation long enough for communication to take place and for you to calmly walk away. Always keep your dogs on a leash.

For more info on Ben’s work to rehabilitate and release injured, orphaned, and abandoned black bear cubs, please visit kilhambearcenter.org/