They can’t help it: Connecticut’s black bears are just really hungry this time of year. Here are some ideas on what to do (and what not to do).

Black bears consume thousands of calories a day in fall, in preparation for the winter. Photo by Ginny Apple.

October 3, 2024—If black bears seem unusually hungry this time of year, it’s because they are. Blame hyperphagia.

Hyperphagia is an abnormally increased appetite and excessive weight gain, and in late summer and fall, Connecticut’s black bears have it. 

They must eat enough food to build fat reserves to take them through the winter months when they are sleeping and, in the case of females, giving birth.  
 
They are simply ravenous, looking for food as many as 20 hours a day. Physiological changes mean they never feel full, even though they eat thousands of calories and gain as many as four pounds a day. 

What does this mean for you?  
 
Contrary, perhaps, to popular opinion, there is enough appropriate habitat for bears to survive in Connecticut. If one shows up at your house, it is not because there’s not enough land or natural food left for it. 

It’s just looking for an easy meal. 

Here are things you can do to discourage bear visits.  

• Clean your barbeque grill thoroughly and wheel it inside a building, if possible. Bears have an extremely well-developed sense of smell. 

• Hold off putting out bird feeders until the bears den for the winter, usually by late November. Put them away at the end of March. 

• Do not feed your pets outside. 

• Keep your trash barrel inside a building. Do not bring it to the road until the day of pick-up. Try putting ammonia or apple cider vinegar-soaked rags in the barrel. This will also discourage raccoons. Lysol and Pine Sol are other disliked scents.  

• Put an electric fence around your chicken coop, bee hives, fruit trees, etc. One can be set up in an hour or so and they are usually effective. 

And if a bear does visit, leave it alone. Here’s what the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says: 
 
“In most situations, if left alone and given an avenue for escape, the bear will usually wander back into more secluded areas. Keep dogs under control. Stay away from the bear and advise others to do the same. Do not approach the bear to take a photo or video. Often a bear will climb a tree to avoid people. A crowd of bystanders will only stress the bear and also add the risk that the bear will be chased into traffic or the crowd of people.”