Garbage strewn in greenbelt off of 24th Ave NE near Central Park.

Bears and Garbage

Black bears are opportunistic eating machines that are driven by their quest to find food. Their natural curiosity and intelligence enable bears to locate and obtain new food sources easily. Black bears have a keen sense of smell that can draw them into our neighborhoods from miles away for a tasty treat of garbage, bird food (including hummingbird feeders), pet food and even shampoo.  Anything that has a strong smell will attract a black bear to investigate it.

 In the spring when black bears awaken from their dens, they are ravenously hungry. Black bears do not eat or drink when they den, from November until April. It is a race against time for bears to try and gain 30-40% of their body before autumn if they are going to survive the winter again. An average sized black bear will consume approximately 8,000 calories per day in the summer and 20,000 calories per day in the fall in preparation for their winter sleep.

Storing garbage outside lures black bears into our neighborhoods for a bountiful buffet of treats. Eating garbage has more calories for a black bear than their natural food sources such as grasses, berries and insects (black bear diet is 90% vegetarian). Once a black bear finds food in one yard, through association the bear will continue looking in other yards for more food. Black bears learn quickly and retain a mental catalogue of food sources and availability in its territory. If a black bear can remember that berries ripen the second week in August on the south slope of a particular mountain, then a bear has no trouble remembering that on Thursday night people in Issaquah Highlands put their garbage cans by the curb. Black bears will return again and again to the same location where they found food only once. This is why people need to be consistent in their behaviors when storing garbage (study in Lakeside, AZ proved that by storing garbage inside until the morning of garbage pickup reduced black bear visits from 68% to 2%).

Once black bears are allowed to access human food and garbage, they quickly learn to associate garbage with people. Female black bears will teach their cubs where to find food in our neighborhoods. Soon the black bears lose any fear of humans and become habituated to people. Habituated black bears learn to expect human food and may be more likely to damage property or approach people than wild black bears.  These so called “nuisance bears” are the product of human carelessness and indifference. In the end, the black bears will suffer and will either be relocated or killed.

You may be doing all the right things to deter black bears from your neighborhood, but if your neighbors are not, then the bear/garbage problem will only continue.  People in Issaquah Highlands have chosen to live on the edge of the Cascade Mountains in black bear country. We have the responsibility to adopt and adjust to the black bears and create solutions not problems.  

What we can do to be Bear Smart

• Make sure your garbage is stored securely in a garage, sturdy shed or bear resistant can.

• Thoroughly clean all cans, bottles and food containers before placing them in the Recycle bin so there are no smells to attract bears or other wildlife.

• Only place food scrapes in the Yard Waste bin on the morning of garbage pickup. Smelly decomposing food is an attractant to bears.

• Inform your neighbors how to properly store their bins or refer them to this website. If you are being responsible with your bins but your neighbors are not then the bear/garbage problem will only continue. Eventually the bear will be relocated or killed.

• Report bear sightings or garbage tipped over to us at wildlifestewards@gmail.com

• Talk to your children about bears and what they should do if they see a bear.

• Donate your time as a volunteer with the neighborhood wildlife steward group.  Contact us for the next meeting date and time wildlifestewards@gmail.com