Homeowner shoots bear that invaded chicken coop

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

A homeowner shot a bear in Bells Flats on Tuesday.

Fish and Game wildlife biologist John Crye says the bear had reportedly eaten about 30 of the person’s chickens, and troopers tried to haze the animal with things like non-lethal bean bag rounds and noise makers.

“But the bear came back, and the homeowner shot it and did everything right, and skinned the bear and brought it to Fish & Game.”

Crye says the bear was a male, probably about three years old, and adds that bears can easily enter sheds, like it did in this case.

“The whole thing is it’s a learning experience, so young bears will get into one chicken coop and, generally, they’ll progress to the next house and the next house and eventually – a fed bear is dead bear pretty much. Eventually a homeowner is going to shoot the bear.”

Crye says the best way to keep bears away from chickens is to set up an electric fence.

He says bears are active on the road system from June to August, when the streams are usually full of fish. However, there have been fewer problem bears than usual wandering around the City of Kodiak. Crye credits proper trash removal as a primary reason.