# Barn in bear country



## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I have black bears. I keep my grain inside the house. I've had them rip doors off to get at it. Left a sack of grain inside my car once and a bear smashed the window and got into it. I've had the rip the doors off the chicken coop. Ate both the grain and several birds. Forget leaving trash outside.

They like carrots. There is a trained bear show few miles from here that uses them as treats. I've never seen them bother hay but I have seen them eat grass. They can and will eat just about anything when the pickings get slim.

The horses have a big run in shed and nearly 20 acres fenced in. They move away from the bears wandering through rapidly. Not a panicked flight but definitely with idea of getting out of Dodge. Trapped...I think they would panic.

No idea where you live but snow takes that fence tape down here. I generally have heavy wet snow. The bottom wires become useless as my snow cover has been over my head before. Usually it's only hip deep.


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## jimmyp (Sep 5, 2013)

I would suggest along with whatever you do structurally, you also consider a livestock dog or 2. this may seem silly but when we had sheep we bought a pair of sarplaninacs, to protect our sheep, and after we sold the sheep the horses became the new "burden" of the dogs. we have an abundance of stray dogs and coyotes as well as 2 legged prowlers and since adding these 2 dogs to the "payroll" we have had little to no trouble from any of the above (fed ex drops packages off at my fathers house 3mi away) other than the occasional coyote carcass in the pasture.

Certain breeds mostly from eastern europe were developed with bear and wolf in mind. these 2 we have will play with my 2yo daughter and I have seen them lay with litters of kittens playing on them, and lambs jumping on them, and in an instant go to work and either ward off or eliminate a threat.

But if you are worried about the possibility of bears this is the route I would go.

Jim


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

We don't get a lot of bears but from time to time they do hang out here - mostly preying on left overs from BBQ's that people haven't cleared away immediately or trash cans that get left outside with food waste smells coming from them
We were told to keep all feed in lidded bins and as far away from the entrance as possible preferably in a separate room
Our barn has exterior doors so anything would have to get over them first - but nothing ever has even though we have seen quite large bears in the wood at the bottom of our property
Our horses don't like the smell of bears and I can usually tell if ones around as they will move pretty swiftly away from that part of the field
This case worried people a few years ago, I don't think it was ever substantiated but a friend of ours who lives near there took pics of a large bear in his garden - so something to always be cautious of - better safe than sorry.
Brazen bear attacks horse on Bethlehem farm (WITH VIDEO)


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