Removing garbage will help keep it away
If people can’t bear to put food away, bears will eat it.
That’s probably why a black bear has been spotted near downtown Ellijay, bear expert Gerald Hodge said.
“This is the time of year where they’re getting ready for the wintertime,” Hodge said.
Ellijay City Council member Thomas Griffith saw the young black bear near Harrison Park.
“I looked over and there was a big bear,” he said. “He immediately ran away from me.”
He’s not the only one. City Council member Claudia Penland got Ring footage of the bear in front of her house.
In addition, Griffith said local resident Tommy Vandiver had bird feeders damaged by a bear at his residence on Old Tails Creek.
Both these areas aren’t far from downtown.
It’s not clear if the same bear was responsible for each incident, Griffith said.
Incidents like these are valuable reminders that in Ellijay, we live in bear territory, Hodge said.
Hodge is the founder and CEO of Appalachia Georgia Friends of the Bears. His group is dedicated to protecting bears.
“We are right in the middle of their habitat,” he said.
The main reason why bears get too close to people is food, he said.
In the fall, bears are driven to find enormous amounts of food so they can hibernate in winter.
If people leave edible things outside, bears will find a way to get to them, Hodge said.
“If that stuff is secured, the bear’s going to keep on moving through,” he said.
It doesn’t matter if the food is in bird feeders or garbage bins. The bears will want it, he said.
“They do the WWE Wrestling thing and break it,” he said.
In downtown Ellijay, there aren’t many bear-resistant garbage cans. That means the downtown area has a high risk of attracting bears.
If you see a bear downtown, don’t pursue it or try to bait it over to take a photograph, he said. Doing that can be very dangerous.
“Maintain your distance and back away,” Hodge said.
It’s also important to be careful while going around corners. If you surprise a bear, it might react aggressively.
“Do not surprise a bear,” Hodge said.
If people attract a bear to their area, there’s not a set plan on how to address this issue, he said.
Sometimes, a bear can become dangerous and need to be killed.
Other times, removing food is enough to make the bear move on.
Dealing with bears is part of life in north Georgia, Griffith said.
If the bear gets too accustomed to people, the Department of Natural Resources will have to handle it.
“I don’t think the city has any jurisdiction on that type of animal,” he said.