What are their favorites? In what order do they prefer fruit? Just want to be prepared, and maybe, IDK, plant something away from my other trees. I have well trod bear trails above and below me.
They don’t bother me so far, I’ve kept my trash inside and the stinky stuff in the freezer. Have no compost pile as of yet. They forage in some of my neighbor’s trash and animal feed bags instead. Eat their chickens. Have broken into several homes around me. Once my trees bear enough fruit they’ll be here. I plan on having plenty of cherries, peaches, pears, apricots. My dog is fairly courageous (and does have some common sense) but he’s only one dog.
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Bears like any fruit especially sweet ones. Planting something for them away from your orchard isn’t going to help. That will just be an appetizer before they visit your trees and tear them up getting at the fruit. You need a bear proof fence.
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In my experience, their favorite fruit is fruit that is ripe. I have not noticed that they have a preference of one over another. They seem to be very opportunistic, I would imagine that ripe or fermenting fruit on the ground will bring them in. They have excellent noses, the smell of ripening fruit is likely to be attractive to them.
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Bear discovered my paw paws two years ago and as soon as they are ripe the fruit disappears leaving broken branches behind. They also completely tore apart my Dolgo crabapple. I have been told that bear have a good memory and will continue to visit a known source of food. People that have bees in our area use electric fences to keep bear away, I believe they have success.
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bears will absolutely destroy your trees and bushes to get your fruit. i dont know of anything you could build to keep them out other than shooting them which is what farmers do here. you can get a permit from a game warden to dispatch them once you show them the damage done. many times its too little, too late.
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The shooting of bear might vary by state. In Vermont I believe they can only be shot in the act of destruction.
The only way beekeepers keep bears out of their hives here is with 3 or 4 strands of electric fencing. Most are powered by solar fence chargers.
I have heard of people placing sheets of plywood with 2”-3” nails sticking out around fruit tree drip lines. Some success is reported. Major PITA to deal with when you want to pick the fruit though.
Nothing is keeping a bear from food when they really want it besides a well placed bullet.
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Yes, multi strands of electric but doesn’t need to be high.
cant even do that here in Maine. you have to show the warden the damage 1st. then he issues a nusiance permit.. then you can dispatch. friends of ours were losing thier ducks to a lynx but because the lynx are protected, they told them there was nothing they could do. i told them just to pepper him in the backend with some light steel birdshot,.from a distance.. that did the trick and it didnt come back. 