The Bin Goes Inside: Bear Rules for Cabin Guests

Black bears live throughout the Chattahoochee National Forest that surrounds this county, and cabin rentals sit inside their range rather than beside it. Most guests never see one. The ones who do usually see it on a deck, at night, next to a bin.

The guidance is published and it is short. The six BearWise basics are: never feed or approach a bear; secure food, rubbish and recycling; remove bird feeders when bears are active; never leave pet food outdoors; clean and store grills and smokers; and tell your neighbours when there is bear activity about.

Translated into a rented cabin, that means five specific things.

The bin does not live on the deck. It lives inside, in the car, or in a bear-resistant enclosure if the property has one. A bag put out the night before collection is the single most common mistake made here.

The cooler comes in. A cool box left on a porch overnight is an advertisement, and the smell of a closed one carries perfectly well.

The grill gets scraped down while it is still hot, every time, and stored somewhere secure. Grease on a grate is food.

Pet bowls come inside after feeding, and nothing is left out for wildlife of any description.

And if you see a bear, tell the owner and tell the neighbouring cabins. This is not a formality. A bear that is rewarded at one property will return, and having returned, it will try the next one along the ridge. That is how a whole road develops a problem, and it usually ends badly for the bear rather than for anyone else.

None of this requires nervousness. Black bears here are not looking for people and will leave if given the chance. What they are looking for is calories, and a holiday cabin is exactly the kind of place that supplies them accidentally. Keep the food indoors and the encounter you have is a good story rather than an incident.