Bear Precautions to Take
After several bear incursions into trash cans and chicken coops occurred in Mission Canyon, California Fish & Wildlife made the suggestions below to discourage the bear from our area. Please observe the instructions as much as you can.
Residents should work to remove any attractants for the bear and prevent it from getting any reward — such as food, trash, pet food — as this can and will lead to further incidents. Keep your trash cans in a protected area, locked, and do not take the cans out until the morning of pickup to prevent leaving them in a place the bear can access. In addition, keeping the trash cans clean and placing ammonia-soaked rags in them can deter bear from getting into trash. Electric fences are good (non-harming) prevention for chicken coops and bee hives.
A video of Fish & Wildlife’s presentation to the Montecito Association on bear issues in the area this past year should be useful: https://www.montecitoassociation.org/bear-issues.
For bear issues in SB County – email Dustin Pearce, Environmental Scientist, Wildlife Program, South Coast Region 5, CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (dustin.pearce@wildlife.ca.gov). If you have an emergency you should call 911 or reach out to our CDFW dispatch at (951) 443-2969.
Links to information on black bears in California and information on preventing wildlife conflicts.
Keep Me Wild (Black Bears): https://wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Bear
Black Bear Brochure (based on camping): https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=57516&inline
Black Bear Biology: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear/Biology
Residents can also help track bears by reporting incidents to the Wildlife Incident Reporting System: https://apps.wildlife.ca.gov/WIR/.
Thank you for helping to keep the canyon safe and the bears in the wild.
Mission Canyon Association