As the summer season winds down and we head into fall, black bears in the Tahoe Basin, including Truckee, Incline Village, Kings Beach, Tahoma, and Carnelian Bay, instinctively become more aggressive. This is the time of year when they are feeding heavily to prepare for hibernation. Naturally, that means a lot of bear break-ins happen during this season, and homeowners often find themselves dealing with tipped-over garbage cans, paw prints on decks, or even damaged doors.
Living in bear country means preparing ahead of time, not just reacting once a bear has already found your property. A few simple steps can make the difference between a peaceful fall and one full of frustrating clean-ups. Here are five tips to help you prepare protect your property, and keep our bears safe.
1. Do Not Feed the Bears
They are cool, they are cute, but feeding them teaches bears that people are a food source. Once a bear learns that, it will remember your house and keep coming back. In some cases, it might even try to break down your door. Feeding a bear isn’t kindness, it sets them up for danger.
Bears that associate humans with food often become bold and persistent. In the Tahoe Basin, wildlife officers respond to dozens of calls every season where a “fed” bear has become a “problem bear.” Unfortunately, many of these animals must then be relocated or euthanized. By keeping food out of reach, you are literally saving a bear’s life. A small act of discipline, like putting away pet food or picking up fallen fruit from trees, goes a long way.
2. Be Mindful of Your Trash
Part of not feeding the bears means securing your waste. The best way to do this is to take your food scraps, packaging, and garbage directly from your kitchen into a secure trash bin or bear box enclosure. Skipping that “in between” step of leaving bags in the garage or a regular trash can removes one of the biggest temptations for bears.
If a bear manages to break into your garage once, it will almost certainly come back again. They have excellent memory and powerful noses that can smell leftovers from hundreds of yards away. Homeowners across Tahoe, Truckee, and South Lake Tahoe have learned that the right bear box or bear can makes all the difference. A secure enclosure protects your home and contributes to a stronger community-wide defense. When an entire neighborhood commits to bear-safe practices, the results are dramatic—fewer break-ins and safer bears.
3. Make Sure Your Bear Box Is Properly Latched
Not all bear boxes or bear cans are created equal. Some designs make it easy to think the door is secure when only the top latch has caught, leaving the bottom unlatched. That is an open invitation for a bear.
Always double-check that your bear box is fully shut and in good working condition. Worn-out or sticky latches can confuse guests, renters, or even passersby who may open your box and not know how to re-secure it. A smooth, reliable latch ensures the box is closed every time.
If you have an older box that needs servicing, I can help get it back into working order. And if it is time to upgrade, Mountain BearBox offers Tahoe’s best bear boxes. They are strong, smooth-closing, and built to last. The right equipment doesn’t just save you cleanup, it prevents bears from forming bad habits that endanger their survival.
4. The Kindest Thing You Can Do Is Not Show Kindness to Bears
Bears are smart. They recognize human behavior and learn from it quickly. If a bear wanders onto your property and you ignore it, the bear starts to feel comfortable, even entitled, to be there.
The best thing you can do is make them feel unwelcome. Yell, clap, throw pinecones or small rocks, or blast an air horn. You are not going to hurt the bear. You are teaching it to avoid human spaces, which protects both your property and the bear’s future.
When bears are in the wilderness, it is a different story. That is their home. If you encounter a bear on a hike, leave it be and don’t disturb or startle it. But when they cross into neighborhoods, it’s critical to push them back toward wild areas. Think of it as setting a healthy boundary, one that benefits both people and wildlife.
5. Consider Electrical Deterrents for Maximum Protection
If you really want the strongest line of defense against break-ins, you can add an energized wire system across entry points or even an electric conductive mat in front of your door. Bears are smart. Once they have felt a mild shock, they remember it. Most will not ever go near that spot again. The shock is not enough to hurt them, but it is powerful enough to deter them and teach them to stay away from human spaces.
This is a solution I have recently started offering. Whether you live in Soda Springs, Auburn, or anywhere in the Tahoe Basin, I can help you wire your property with a safe, effective deterrent. Electrical barriers are especially useful for vacation homes, where owners aren’t always around to respond quickly to a bear visit. They add peace of mind, knowing your property is protected even when you’re not there.
Conclusion
Getting ready for hibernation season in the Tahoe Basin is about more than avoiding fines. From South Lake Tahoe to Carnelian Bay, homeowners are investing in bear enclosures and secure trash bins to keep their properties safe. Others are upgrading latches or adding electrical deterrents to stop repeat visits.
The effort isn’t just about individual homes, it’s about community responsibility. Every time one homeowner secures their trash or shoos a bear away, it reduces the chances of that bear becoming dependent on people. When whole neighborhoods adopt bear-safe habits, break-ins decrease dramatically, and the bears remain where they belong: in the wilderness.
Whether you need your old bear box serviced, a brand-new Mountain BearBox installed, or even an electrical deterrent added, I am here to help. Together, we can keep Tahoe beautiful, safe, and truly wild.