ST. MARY PARISH — A Black Bear spotting will be more common now that the warm weather has come.
According to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Large Carnivore Program Manager John Hanks said there are simple tips to steering bears away from your property.
“It’s just a time to be aware that they’ll be out,” Hanks said. “So you wanna secure your garbage, you don’t wanna leave any food out, you wanna clean your grill, your fish cooker you wanna store it in a locked building if you can.”
But many Patterson residents have been seeing bears now for weeks.
Patterson resident Ryan Neylon said its a nightly routine for a bear to come out and destroy his trashcan.
"I hear from it from neighbors two streets over, ‘hey we got y’all trash and mail in the yard’, 'I’m like ‘oh man! Bear again, here we go,'” Neylon said.
Just last week, his encounter with the bear left damage to his property.
“We come out under the car port and the bear was under the car port and it scared me of course and everybody else,” Neylon said.
“And it took off running through the fence broke through the fence, and ran through the backyard, broke through the back fence. So that’s what we’re working on right now. Just trying to make repairs and everything.”
Neylon said a precautionary measure he’s taking this time around is trying to bear proof his fence.
“Definitely fixing the fence, having it more stable more stout, and coming up with some different style latches for the trash can hopefully that will prevent a lot of the mess.”
He’s even moving his camper out of the yard so his fence can completely close.
“The bear was coming in the backyard way more often,” Neylon said.
“And with the kids being in the backyard playing, I didn’t wanna take no chances so I pulled it forward so we can close the gate every night.”
Just a few doors down, in Scott Vining and his neighbor’s backyard, bears rummage through trash they've collected throughout the development.
“These are one of the main trails that he uses you can see the trails pretty stomped down back there so he’s constantly through here,” Vining said.
Vining said this spring he’s making sure his garbage is secure.
“Just double check our trashcans, make sure they locked, and if they are broke just constantly call just try to get another trashcan here.”
The common problem along this street is the bears knowing how to open bear proof garage cans, some even working in teams.
“The bears they’re so strong.” Neylon said. “They’ve broken our latches several times its a little chain so we're gonna have to reinforce it, get with the city see if there’s something more you know stout.”
“Once they get dumped a few times the locks get worn out you know, Vining said.
“I don’t feel they have anybody that comes and checks on them nobody’s maintaining them. So when they break it's not being taken care of.”
For more resources on bears and what to do if you encounter one, click the link.
