09-18-2023, 02:24 PM
Jackie, thanks for your input. It’s true that in good mast years, we don’t seem to have as many break-ins. Your comment is a common position, and I do get what you’re conveying.
With regard to safety, I’ve had a slightly different experience since I sometimes leave for work at odd, dark hours and have squared off with the occasional knucklehead bear that won’t get out of my way so I can get to my car. I choose to remove the apples so I don’t have to deal with any negative surprises or secondary tree damage. There’s plenty of rogue apple trees in the canyon to fill the belly. Although ‘natural’, the jury is out on whether apples are ‘good’ because the trees would not be here except for people, and that gets into more complicated concerns. I’m a big fan of natural food sources outside of town.
However…we will always have bears in town eating fruit. The point is to be safe and smart about it, not encourage them to hang out, and to be aware of the consequences of habituation.
Thankfully, Boulder bears are not JT/Bar-K bears, so we don’t have the same level of conflict complexity to deal with.
All, keep in mind we will have active bears until food sources dry up- only when calories burned begins to exceed intake for a while - will they hibernate (it’s not as simple as cold temperatures and shorter days).
So, late November…hopefully
With regard to safety, I’ve had a slightly different experience since I sometimes leave for work at odd, dark hours and have squared off with the occasional knucklehead bear that won’t get out of my way so I can get to my car. I choose to remove the apples so I don’t have to deal with any negative surprises or secondary tree damage. There’s plenty of rogue apple trees in the canyon to fill the belly. Although ‘natural’, the jury is out on whether apples are ‘good’ because the trees would not be here except for people, and that gets into more complicated concerns. I’m a big fan of natural food sources outside of town.
However…we will always have bears in town eating fruit. The point is to be safe and smart about it, not encourage them to hang out, and to be aware of the consequences of habituation.
Thankfully, Boulder bears are not JT/Bar-K bears, so we don’t have the same level of conflict complexity to deal with.
All, keep in mind we will have active bears until food sources dry up- only when calories burned begins to exceed intake for a while - will they hibernate (it’s not as simple as cold temperatures and shorter days).
So, late November…hopefully