This time of year in Aspen bear break-ins are common. I have personally addressed the aftermath of a few. Bears can be rather aggressive and they become fixated on finding food. Precautions should be taken to avoid potential break-ins.
Most second home owners have departed leaving their Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer for next time. Here in lies the problem. Bears know they will find food inside if they can just get into the property. Often times they try every door or window until they come to the one that has inevitably been left unlocked. If you were thorough enough to lock all the doors, that is still no problem for a bear. They are capable of lifting a locked sliding glass door off the track, laying it down and walking right on in. If a bear is rewarded even once it will return time and time again. Here are a few tips to avoid bear break-ins:
– Place ammonia wicks at various locations on the exterior of your Aspen property. They are pretty inexpensive and can be created with a small plastic painters bucket with a lid, ammonia and ready to go rags from Ace Hardware.
– Place bear pads in front of every door and window. Essentially, a bear pad is a piece of plywood with screws sticking up thru the wood, so when a bear steps on it…Ouch!
– Reduce the delay time on your home alarm to a maximum of 45 seconds. If a bear breaks in, do you really want it in the house for 3 minutes before the alarm sounds?!
– Do not leave food or trash in the property if it is not in use.
– Change lever style door hardware for smaller round knobs on the exterior.