MNR’s Bear Wise Briefing

Aug 10, 2025 | Environment, Forest & Wildlife, Mammals, Nature

Last weekend, Brandon Hellyer from our regional MNR office boated around Pointe au Baril to speak with some of the affected cottagers.  He also sat down with PaBIA for a wide-ranging discussion regarding the bears here in the islands. 

The following paragraphs detail what was talked about. Should you wish to read the entire briefing, please click here to read it in its entirety.  Otherwise, this discussion will be shared in four separate parts, this segment will be the first one.

Brandon wants everyone to know that if you have a bear break-in or see a bear around your cottage, it is imperative that you call the MNR Bear Wise Hotline 866-514-2327 to record the incident asap. 

  • Start by adding this Bear Wise hotline phone number to your phone contact list NOW and that will enable you to quickly record the incident without much effort if/when it happens.  
  • MNR needs a full picture of the problem in order to respond to the influx of bear break-ins we’ve experienced this year!

This summer, while Scott Weir and PaBIA tabulated over 40 encounters, the MNR only received 11 calls.  It was Scott’s comprehensive (not exhaustive) map and the letter from Dave Sharpe, President of PaBIA, that caught MNR’s attention to the issues here in Pointe au Baril.  Because of the communications, MNR boated out into the islands last Saturday to talk with a various affected cottagers who had called the hotline. (If you would like to talk with MNR, they are happy to arrange another trip and go to your cottage.)

As expressed by MNR, the islands are a unique challenge this summer (as compared to the small towns who normally are just now beginning to experience the bear issues). 

  1. Since trapping bears is done with cages each weighing 1500 pounds, trapping in water access-only areas is near to impossible.  
  2. Since killing bears is almost always out of the question, we need to remember that we live in bear country – we are the guests.
  3. Did you know that a bear’s sense of smell is 5000% more than humans, so cooking/food smells coming from our cottages are likely to attract bears.  If windows and doors are left open, the bears think they’ve found their next meal!

Bear Break-in Preventative Measures – Knowing how bears get attracted to or into a cottage provides us with helpful pre-emptive measures. 

  1. Take down bird feeders. Did you know that 1 bird feeder can hold up to 30,000 calories and bears are naturally looking for food to ward off their hunger (spring) or ‘stock up’ for their hibernation (mid summer to late fall.)
  2. Store all dry pet food INSIDE a cottage.  Feed your pets inside (not on a porch).
  3. Do not leave dirty diapers (or anything stinky) on a screened in porch!
  4. Close and lock all windows and doors before retiring for the night.
    1. Even a window on ground/entry level that is cracked open a little bit is enough for bears to get its paws around the opening, destroy it and enter the cottage – especially kitchen windows and areas where food is stored.
    2. Screen doors or old entry doors with a simple door latch are not enough to deter a bear.
    3. If you have sliding doors, place a pole at the bottom of the closed door frame between the door and the frame to prevent the door from opening. 
  5. Put away all food in containers and off the counter (no sense letting the bear enjoy the smells of sausages or baked goods!)
    1. Bears are attracted to sweet foods: fruit, sweets, veggies, etc.
    2. Freeze meat scraps until you take your trash off the island.
    3. Do not put meat, fish or sweet food such as fruit in a composter
    4. Burn off your grill after cooking
    5. Don’t leave out meats or bones
  6. Food Garbage is the number ONE reason why bears are attracted to cottages.
    1. Remove all garbage from the kitchen counters (put in an airtight closed container and remove from the island often. Do not stockpile garbage).
    2. Use a FoodCycler 
  • disperse the dregs around outside – just not all in one place (one cottager said the dregs were put into the garden and the garden scent wasn’t appealing!) or 
  • put it in a ziploc bag and add to your trash 
  • use a garburator for the dregs
  1. Empty all bacon grease/grill drippings into a can and freeze until removing it from the island on garbage day.
  2. Used butcher wrappers from foods (meat, fish, etc.) should be well rinsed and then placed in a Ziploc bag before throwing into the trash.

If  you have experienced a bear break-in – what can you do aside from the above

  1. For windows: build long wood planks with nails through them that would fit outside on or under windowsills. The bear will put its paws there, experience the discomfort and leave.
  2. For doors:
    1. build bear boards (4’ x 4’ planks) with nails through them and lay upside down in front of your doorway before retiring.  (MNR doesn’t think it necessary to bolt the board down as a bear will not think to push it aside. Once it feels the pain it would retreat.
    2. Change the type of entrance doorway to a more solid single door with a deadbolt (latches are useless). Bears don’t spend time with a door that doesn’t break down easily.
    3. When installing a new wooden door, make sure the hardware used is strong and goes through the door frame and into the walls of the cottage.  Older doors and their weaker doorframes provide easy access for a bear.
  3. Install solar powered motion detecting entry lights as bears don’t like bright lights and will retreat.  These are inexpensive and found online.
  4. Understand that once a bear has broken in, the timeframe for a reoccurrence is normally within the next two weeks.  Knowing this can help one to stay more vigilant during that period of time, not that we shouldn’t always be!

If you encounter a bear

  1. Use loud sounds to scare it away
    1. bear or marine horns
    2. pans banging together
    3. whistles
    4. If with a group, gather together and make a great deal of noise
  2. If you don’t have a motion detecting entry light, keep a strong flashlight available and shine it in the bear’s eyes. They don’t like bright lights.
  3. Make yourself as large as you can – even use a black garbage bag and flap it above your head.
  4. Do NOT use bear pepper spray unless as a last resort.  The residue from the spray is sweet and will later attract a bear.

How Can you help MNR?

  1. If you have a video cam and have bear footage where you can see the bear (if you have the motion detector lights, that improves visibility), please send it to MNR
  2. If you have pictures of a bear near your cottage, please send them to MNR. Knowing whether it was a single bear, adult or cub, or a family of bears helps to determine the extent of the problem, whether the area is dealing with one bear or many.  
  3. If you rent out your cottage for any period of time, alert the renters that they are in bear country and list preventative measures and provide protective tools.
  4. Know that MNR’s main objective is to educate us on how to live with the bears.
  5. Understand that MNR cannot remove bears from water-access properties.