Do bird feeders attract bears
Seems such a small amount of food when you think of how much a bear must consume daily, but a bird feeder can still be the target of hungry bears.
Bird feeders do attract bears, and once they get a taste of its contents, it would be difficult to discourage them, so feeding equipment must be removed. Grizzles to Black bears can enter the yard to feed on a nice snack, and so to her cubs. Bears have a keen sense of smell, so feeders are easy to locate.
While the contents of a seed or peanut feeder seems quite small when relative to a large Grizzle or Black bear, it makes for a tasty treat all the same.
Feeders can attract bears to it and once it does, it can become a reliable food source unless you do something about it.
Bears have an amazing sense of smell, and one of the strongest in the world, so the peanuts or suet, and everything else in-between you feed backyard birds, becomes a daily target.
If the food source is left out daily, you could find the bear bringing her cubs along for a snack off a multitude of feeders.
While the regular bird feeders plus any open platform feeder can be very easily pulled down to the ground, that's not all she is after.
To have hummingbird feeders hanging or mounted in the yard, bears would want to hydrate at some point, so this sweet sugar water treat would be the target also.
As you may know, no food source left out in your yard, including the trash is safe, but with bird feeders they must be disassembled or stored away until the persistent bear family disappear.
Bears are attracted to feeders
Absolutely can bears be attracted to bird feeders, and if so are guaranteed to destroy your equipment in an effort to eat up the contents.
While the food inside bird feeders is not noticeable to us smell wise, it is too bears as they are an animal with one of the best sense of smells on the planet - so therefore the food is not safe from any bear the feeder comes into contact with.
It could be bears had no interest in the food of feeders, but after inspecting it up close with a single visit to your backyard, the feeders then become a target time after time.
Bears can recognize bird feeder and therefore remember that is contains food.
And while it seems unusual for an animal as big as a Grizzle bear to be attracted to a food source in such small quantities, it could the bear and her cubs are a little short of food in the wild.
That confirms it then, bears are indeed attracted to bird feeders, and will target yours if they ever wonder into your yard.
Generic feeders the target
Target of the bird feeders believe it or not is not meat like you would expect carnivore bears to be interested in, but simply the peanuts, seeds or suet is a treat they require.
In reality the contents of a bird feeder contains a food source that really is close to what a bear eats in the wild. Bears mostly eat grasses, roots and berries, with fruits of all kind often left out for birds, including fruit based suet.
And while bears have now developed a keen taste for human food, including scavenging in the garbage - bird food is far easier, yet more tastier than the trash.
Bears will rip open hanging bird feeders to gulp down peanuts mostly or seeds if that's what's available.
But if you have suet, especially the fruit suet kind, then sure this would be the target first and foremost, but really a big bear like Grizzle or Black bear would eat everything that is available to them.
This can also be true for platform feeders with any bird food sitting out in the elements, only the bears might do you a favor and not destroy your bird feeding equipment this time.
Can purge hummingbird feeders
Believe it or not, its not only the tasty bird treats all bears would be willing to consume, but your hummingbird feeders are not safe either.
You heard that right, a big Grizzle or a slightly smaller Black bear would actually pull down your hummingbird feeder to drink the sugar water contained within.
It won't be a quick drink and off they go either, as bears would commonly break open the compartment holding the water for a way to re-hydrate on a sweet drink.
Persistent as bears are, if they get a taste for this sugar water you can guarantee the hummingbird feeder won't be safe after the first visit, if they successfully access the water.
Hummingbird feeders hanging off their own pole would not be safe but one mounted to the high up on the porch could be.
You must remember if you have a bear problem in your backyard, or believe it can happen, then keep feeders well away from the house to avoid having an expected counter with momma bear.
No current anti-bear feeder solution
Unfortunately, there is no genuine way you can keep bears off a bird feeder in your yard, as their sheer size and strength is enough to pull down any feeder on a pole.
What you could do is hang a bird feeder on a bracket on the house up to 10ft. high, as no bear would be capable of reaching it, or able to climb the side of the house.
But again, they may come up to the house to take a look, so you'd need to discourage this by not setting up regular or hummingbird feeders by the house. It should be setup where you can see from the window, just in case bears are outside.
No genuine anti-bear feeder solution at this time other than setting up the feeders on a high point in the yard, if available to you.
An outbuilding or shed up to 10ft high could be used to mount the bird feeders, and while near impossible for bears to reach, the birds can continue to feed in complete safety.
As it happens, bears won't cause too much trouble for birds, but your wildlife won't bother to feed if the bear family is causing a nuisance of themselves around the food source.
Feeders MUST be removed
Due to the bears size and strength, which comes apparent when food is around, they will be guaranteed to completely destroy bird feeders to gain access to its contents.
No pole the bird feeders are hanging off or a post the feeding platform is attached too would keep bears off - with a grab of the claw it will all come tumbling down.
Bird food left out in the yard when you want to keep bears away would only go towards attracting them over and over again - therefore all bird food must be removed from your backyard.
To store away the bird feeders along with its feed might not be enough in the backyard shed, as bears can still smell the feed behind closed doors. Your only choice then is to bring feeders and the bird food indoors, preferably into the house.
And while your at it, make sure to keep the garbage tidy while making sure other food sources are packed up - as the bear and her cubs will continue to arrive daily when you need them to go away, as you plan too put the feeders back out at a later date.
Feeders must be packed away then but its probably best to discard the rest of the bird feed, wash the equipment then store it away outdoors, rather than bring it into the house.
To conclude
Absolutely are bears attracted to bird feeders and will be after the tasty bird treats contained within the feeders.
Feeders are filled with peanuts, seeds and suet, all of which a bear would want to eat.
A regular bird feeders contents is close to what bears eat in the wild, such as berries - so of course the bird food the bears wish to eat doesn't seem so odd when you think about it.
Bears have one of the strongest sense of smells in the animal kingdom, so to come within range of a bird feeder, they can be drawn to it, even though the bird feeders don't seem to give off any odour, pleasant or not.
What else can go wrong is with your hummingbird feeders, so that sugar water contained within can be an exciting prospect for a thirty bear.
No current anti-bear proof bird feeders exist at this time, so feeders are bound to be destroyed by these incredible creatures.
To deter bears from arriving in your yard to feed daily, you must stop feeding birds for several days, because hopefully in due course the bears will stop coming to your yard knowing the food source has gone.
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