Quick question.... I'm in sw Colorado and was thinking of starting a compost pile in back of my place, the big concern is our very large furry very strong friends. Da bears! (reference implied lol )..I'd hate to have to deal with them if I don't have to.. Is there any way to protect it from those dirty thieving bastages from lootin my black gold?
I'd suggest using leaves,grass clippings and dynamic accumulators only in your compost pile. The bears around here in NY state are only interested in an easy meal that involves a treat not found in the woods. I have bears walk right past my compost bins and never give them a second look.
Compost yard waste outside. Put food waste inside in a worm bin. I live in real bear country and they zero have interest in grass and leaves, just as TimJ says. Cheers Os
If all else fails, grab the hot chili powder from the kitchen and sprinkle it on top of the compost. Bears have this big wet nose and a good sniff of chili powder is enough to deter them. A friend of mine had a lot of trouble with bears getting in her trash. She started sprinkling chili powder on the top of her garbage and the bears decided that her trash was a bit too spicy for their taste and wandered off to check out the neighbor's cans. Problem solved. Where I live, the bears are more interested in the wind-fall apples than our compost pile. The bears are going to be very unhappy this year- we had a late hard freeze this spring and the fruit tree flowers were all killed, so no apples or nectarines for us (or the bears) this year. Granny
I think that’s just luck with the chili powder. A hungry bear will just knock the can over and jump up and down on it till it spills out the trash. I have bears walk through my yard every morning and every night all summer. Every single year up here (Alaska), there are multiple reports of people spraying ‘Bear spray’ on there tents and having them destroyed by bears. Some folks seem to think that Bear spray (hot pepper mace), works like mosquito repellent. Bears love that shit. They will bite into a can of Bear spray, run ten feet away until it’s done gassing out, and then come back and chew on the can some more. @TimJ can support this, he tried pepper powder to keep bears away from honey bee boxes. Best to just compost food in the house in a worm bin. Cheers Os
I used Cayenne pepper on the cells within every frame in the hive to try to persuade the bears to find a different food source. They love the taste so much, they ate every single frame left in the hive. I've also had a Cocker spaniel that loved to get into my garbage while I was at work. I spread butter on the rim of the garbage can and dusted with red pepper flakes. The dog wasn't bothered by it at all. I'm not convinced animals get the same effect from capsaicin that we do.
That’s great that it worked for her. I just wouldn’t bank on it being successful. It seems like it’s not the mess they make of the compost pile that’s a big deal, it’s your favorite plants 5’ away that they trample while rooting around. I just prefer they keep on walking when they pass thru. I don’t want em to stop for even a second. I do think that most animals don’t care for the smell of neem meal. For me I feel it helps keep critters away from normal stuff. But I don’t think it covers up the smell of anything they think could be food. I use neem to keep dogs away from my low fenced flower beds. I would never discourage someone from composting, cause I’m a composting advocate and freak. With bears, do food inside in a worm bin. Cheers Os
I'd just make a bear safe compost bin. It's not that hard. It will all of course depend on where you're doing it. SW Co? That's Black Bears mostly right? Rounded edges will do a lot to keep them out. The thing is no design will keep them away. They'll smell the food and be attracted to it. Whether they get in or not they'll be hanging around.