Have A Birdfeeder Out For The Summer In Idaho? Put It Away NOW!

We're about a month out from summer but Idaho Fish & Game is already giving us all a heads-up about a potentially fatal mistake we could all be making.

Better to be safe than sorry

Is this really one of the worst mistakes you could make? Not necessarily but it does create a potentially dangerous situation for you, your family, and possibly pets.

Idaho Fish & Game shared a stern warning last week:

After spending the winter months burning their fat reserves hibernating, black bears will immediately start looking for food, mostly spring grasses, but pretty much anything that can provide easy calories.

That's right! The bears are waking up and like any of us who've ever awoken from a deep slumber, they are hungry.

According to Idaho Fish & Game, male black bears could lose up to 30% of their body weight during hibernation while females could lose up to 40%. It doesn't take an expert to know that these bears will be scavenging and looking for anything they can get their paws on to grub.

Including your birdfeeder.

"Birds don’t need bird feeders to survive during the summer months because of an abundance of natural food sources," Idaho Fish & Game shared on their site.

"...Residents are encouraged to take them down during this time. Bears can get a tremendous amount of calories from bird feeders."

And just how much food can these bears score out of our birdfeeders? Idaho Fish & Game says that some bears can get between 2,500 to 3,200 calories from 32 ounces of hummingbird food.

That's a good chunk of grub and enough to make a bear fall in love with your bird dwelling.

Unless you want to attract more hungry bears, it's probably a good idea to put those feeders away for now.