Black bears are a major part of our mountainous, wooded community. Based on a multitude of contacts with residents and seeing the tremendous support for our orphaned cubs at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve, it appears that Bent Tree bears are generally adored animals. Our team has found bears here to be unaggressive through our experiences with them. We have noticed that sometimes they do not scare as easily as they should, which is very likely the result of them being attracted to and made comfortable around homes. There have also been some reports of bears frequenting areas they have not in the past. This could be as simple as their travel patterns changing or intentional or negligent practices attracting them to homes in the area. It is very difficult to know without thoroughly investigating each circumstance.

There are no records of black bears attacking humans in Georgia, except for one case in 2011 that involved a man using his dogs to help him hunt bears. In that case the involved hunter even admitted that the bear was just protecting itself after being shot and attacked by dogs. With that being said, it is important to give bears their proper respect and distance, as they are sometimes very large wild animals. Knowing that our community has a fair amount of bear activity, we have many strong recommendations to residents to prevent any potential conflicts with them.

1. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. This is very important safety guidance for virtually all aspects of life. It will help prevent you becoming the victim of a crime, or as it relates to this subject, having a close encounter with a bear. Pay attention to what wildlife is outside your home before you go outside, especially if you’re taking a dog out. Dogs and bears do not mix, and there is much greater potential for a serious conflict when dogs are involved.

2. MAINTAIN CONTROL OF DOGS. Our rules do not require that dogs be on leash if they remain on their owners’ property. However, we strongly recommend that dog owners maintain control of them while outdoors, especially if bears are known to be in your area. We also recommend against leaving dogs outdoors unattended or unsupervised for long periods of time, which could not only lead to conflicts with bears but noise complaints as well. Dogs should be taken indoors as soon as possible if a bear is seen in the area.

3. RESPECT BEARS AND MAINTAIN DISTANCE FROM THEM. By paying good attention to surroundings, residents should ideally see bears from a safe distance. In that case, simply stay away from the bear. If you happen to find yourself in a close encounter with a bear, stay calm, ensure the bear has an escape route, do not run away, make yourself look big by raising your arms, make noise by yelling or clapping, and back away slowly keeping a visual on the bear. Although highly unlikely, if attacked by a bear, fight back!

4. ENSURE YOUR HOME IS NOT A BEAR MAGNET. Bears have an incredible sense of smell. Some common things that attract them to homes are bird feeders (whether accessible or not), uncleaned grills, outdoor food bowls, and garbage cans with food debris. To address these things, we recommend the following:

• Remove bird feeders when bears are active.
• Thoroughly clean grills after each use.
• Food for outdoor pets should not be left outside unattended, and food bowls or receptacles should be stored indoors when not in use. Feeding wildlife in Bent Tree is a violation of our rules and subject to a $100 to $500 fine.
• Garbage containing food remnants of any kind should be completely inaccessible to wildlife and ideally taken to the Bent Tree Waste & Recycling Center without delay if it cannot be stored indoors.

5. KEEP DOORS LOCKED. We appreciate the level of security our residents feel and are proud to provide that, but it is important to keep doors locked, especially if bears are in your area. Bears do have the potential to open some home and car doors, and a bear inside your home obviously presents a much greater potential for serious conflict. Let’s not let our level of security lead to a surprise bear encounter inside a home.

6. MAKE NOISE TO KEEP BEARS AWAY. Some residents have reached out regarding bears trying to take up residency in crawl spaces and under porches. It is important to ensure areas like that are strongly sealed. For these somewhat uncommon situations, we also have recommended motion activated noise making devices to be placed near the access points. They are cheap and easy to set up. For normal situations, scaring bears away from homes can be as simple as using an air horn, banging on pots and pans, or setting off a car alarm.

7. CALL PUBLIC SAFETY FOR ASSISTANCE. Our team will do everything we can to help residents with bear nuisance problems. If you find that a bear is not being scared away by normal means, we want to be notified to assist. We have good methods of scaring them away but will also assess the situation and ensure there is nothing attracting them to your home. We never want a situation to escalate to the point where a person, pet, or bear is hurt.
We hope everyone finds this information valuable as we coexist with our beloved Bent Tree bears. A wealth of related information can be found at https://bearwise.org/ and we recommend residents take some time to explore and learn on their great website.