Somewhere out in the woods, there are noses that can smell the grease and garbage in downtown Ellijay’s trash cans.
For the bears attached to these noses, these smells mean food.
And one of these days, they will come down from the mountains into town, Gerald Hodge, the founder of Appalachia Friends of the Bears said.
“One of the things I would like to see happen in Ellijay is for everybody to get bear resistant trash cans,” he said.
For now, it seems that Gilmer County’s bears haven’t yet braved the trip into Ellijay.
The Times-Courier polled ten downtown restaurants if they have ever had a bear get into their trash.
None said yes.
Although these results sound encouraging, it doesn’t mean that bears don’t go downtown sometimes. Last July 4, a bear visited the downtown, and one restaurant employee told the Times-Courier he had seen one late at night six weeks ago.
Ellijay is lucky bears haven’t discovered the downtown yet, Hodge said.
“I don’t know why,” he said.
If they do, it could be very difficult to get them out.
Once bears know about an easy food source, they will keep returning to it.
“As long as trash is not secured or there are human-provided feeders, a bear is going to keep coming back to it,” Hodge said.
In a brief walk-through of Ellijay’s downtown area, he couldn’t find any bear-resistant trash cans.
Bears are extremely strong. And no trash can will stop a determined bear forever.
Bear-resistant trash cans can cost a few hundred dollars more than a normal trash can. But these items can be cheaper when bought in bulk, Hodge said.
But even slightly-improved trash cans can make it more difficult for a bear to get food.
Often, making something difficult is enough to ward bears off.
But easy food will bring them back.
“They know where stuff’s at,” he said. “A bear is the third-most intelligent creature.”
If bears get used to people, problems will follow.
According to BearWise, a program run by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, there are six main ways to deter bears.
These include never feeding or approaching them, securing food, garbage and recycling, removing bird feeders where bears are active, never leaving pet food outdoors, cleaning and storing grills and smokers and alerting neighbors to bear activity.
It could also help to change Ellijay’s garbage schedule to pick up trash at night rather than during the day.
Living in bear country requires adaptive behavior.
“It’s going to be a lifestyle change for people,” Hodge said.