Helping homeowners respond to nuisance bears by education, behavior modification and technology.

One summer a distressed bear was occasionally seen, wandering in our valley. Early one morning I located the bear in a field. The bear seemed disoriented and kept pawing its face. We contacted DEC. After observing the bear, the Environmental Conservation Officer determined the bear had to be dispatched. An autopsy was performed; the bear was not rabid. Someone had shot it in the face and blinded it.

We feel that this was a cruel and inhumane response to the rising incidence of bear/human interactions, and want to help our neighbors respect these magnificent creatures with which we share the mountains. We decided that we needed to share our knowledge about bear behavior and also make available our expertise in discouraging tragic bear interactions and in protecting people’s homes and property from bear incursions.

We hope you find the resources on this site helpful in understanding more about bears. Get in touch with us if you would like to talk about how we can help you “bear proof” your home and property. 
                 -Michael DiBenedetto

 “Bears are magnificent animals who deserve to be wild.  They only come too close when we reward them with food, and then they lose their fear of humans.”      
                  -Kane DiBenedetto 

 We have many more bears than we used to, and what we used to do won’t work anymore. We have to find strategies that work so that we can co-exist with these amazing animals. Bears are smart enough to figure out how to work a pulley when there’s food on the other end. They can smell food within a 20-mile range, and they are strong enough to go through doors. But they don’t like electricity, and usually leave when they encounter it.  Electric barriers are a routine bear strategy in other parts of the country; they have found that preventive deterrents keep curious bears from becoming nuisance bears, which keeps them wild and alive.