COLORADO – Making sure that a bear knows it’s not welcome at a home is ideal for both the safety of humans in the area and for the safety of the bears. Roaring Fork Valley Bear Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on reducing human-bear conflict in the roaring fork valley. Part of their work includes the lending and sale of electrified bear-deterrent mats, which give bears a little shock to startle them away from doors, homes, and other human-related areas. The video below shows a black bear cub getting shocked by the mat, leading to both the mother and the cub running from the area.
“A while back, we installed one of our electrified bear deterrent mats for a homeowner. We just received footage of Mama Bear and her cub trying to break into their shed again. It looks like the cub got a good zapping, and Mama was startled.“
If you live in the Roaring Fork Valley, you can request one of these shock pads through Roaring Fork Valley Bear Coalition. The pads are about 2′ x 4′ with rubber matting, and weigh about 20-30 pounds. They just give the animals a shock, not a full blast, so it doesn’t harm the bears over the long term.
“People fear standard electricity, but fence energizers are low-impedance style. The millisecond shock burst makes it safe (muscles do not lock from the electricity). They have taken away the heat-generating aspect of electricity, which is the damaging part (what cooks us when we get electrocuted). So it is a highly safe system meant to hurt, not harm.“
If you can’t access one of these electronic mats, you can build a ‘bear unwelcome mat’ or an electric mat as described by Colorado Parks & Wildlife.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife on How To Build a Black Bear Unwelcome Mat:
“Unwelcome mats must be large enough to keep a bear from leaning from one edge and reaching a door or window. Ideally they should extend past the sides of the door or window a minimum of two feet. A 4’ x 4’ sheet of plywood will protect a single doorway; a 4’ x 8’ will protect most patio and double doors and windows.
It’s very important that unwelcome mats be made to black bear specifications; some designs you might find on the internet are intended for grizzly bears, which are generally considerably bigger than black bears and have bigger paws and longer claws. A black bear can be seriously injured by spikes or nails that are too long or spaced too far apart.
Use full or half sheets of the thickest plywood available. Nails should be long enough to stick out of the wood ¾ – 1”. Nails should be nailed into the board approximately 2” apart. Drawing a grid on the board makes it easier to stay on track.”