How to get the message to our guests on being Bear Aware in Girdwood Alaska

[Lynne']

Photograph courtesy of Chuck Bartlebaugh

Hello Girdwood Community Air B&Bers,

My name is Lynne' Doran and I own Alyeska Hideaway Log Cabins.  I am working with the Bear Aware group  in our town to assist in getting Bear Aware information in all Air BnB/Nightly Rental properties so we can assist guests on proper garbage handling and how to be safe in the woods.

The Bear Aware group received a grant to print magnets with tips on what to do and my goes is to get this in every property.  Please send me a message so I can get you this magnet and some reading material for your property.

Let's avoid the killing of innocent bears due to irresponsible garbage handling this summer.

Thanks,

Lynne'

[Lisa1831]

Good luck with your project. 

[Cathie19]

Wishing you @Lynne' all the best with this worthwhile project. Bear behaviour is instinctive. Humans need to be the adaptive and proactive animal. 

[Nancy896]

I have a bear that visits my home regularly. I need any advice on how to coexist. I love animals and never want anything bad to happen. Please help. Thanks!!!

[Lawrene]

There is a pdf on coexisting with black bears in North Carolina at https://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species/Mammals/Black-Bear#2498425-have-a-problem-brbr

Perhaps print that out for your place, @Nancy896 ? Or maybe @Lynne' knows of a better outside-Alaska resource.

In Ontario, Canada, we have resources at ontario.ca. 

I don't have bears to deal with, but I do have coexisting-with-wildlife tips framed on the wall of my listing. You might consider that. Customize something using the online resources, and frame it for guests to see.

[Nancy896]

What wonderful advice! I love the idea of framing the wildlife tips. Thank you so very much for reaching out to me. I will certainly check all of your suggested resources. 

This was my first time having a conversation with another hostess!! What a pleasant experience!

[Lynne']

Glad the idea is catching on : )  I am also trying to get Air BnB to assist me with reaching directly out to Air BnB Hosts in Girdwood AK so we can share my phone number/e-mail so i can drop off magnets but so far Air BnB hasn't helped me : (  sometimes it is so hard to get corporate America to help. I thought for sure they could send a direct message to people in my zip code giving them my info but every time I call the people who answer the phone don't know how to pass me off to upper management to try and get some action taken : ( ......

[Lynne']

Thanks for the info.    I am also trying to get Air BnB to assist me with reaching directly out to Air BnB Hosts in Girdwood AK so we can share my phone number/e-mail so i can drop off magnets but so far Air BnB hasn't helped me : (  sometimes it is so hard to get corporate America to help. I thought for sure they could send a direct message to people in my zip code giving them my info but every time I call the people who answer the phone don't know how to pass me off to upper management to try and get some action taken : ( ......

[Sarah977]

@Lynne'  What a good thing you're doing. There's no bears where I live now in Mexico, but there sure were where I lived in Canada.

Once when I lived in Canada, on the west coast, some friends and I were cross-country skiing, and had just gotten back to the car. There were a couple of baby bears off the side of the road, at the edge of the bush. A carload of German tourists pulled up behind us, got out and started snapping photos of the cubs. They kept walking closer and closer to the cubs until we shouted out for them to back away, the mother bear would be quite nearby and would attack them. Their eyes got big, they said thank you and scurried back to the car and locked the doors. They seemed to think they were in Disneyland and the cubs were there for their amusement.

It's not just the garbage issue- most people have no idea how to act when confronted by a wild animal.

[Lynne']

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I am also trying to get Air BnB to assist me with reaching directly out to Air BnB Hosts in Girdwood AK so we can share my phone number/e-mail so i can drop off magnets but so far Air BnB hasn't helped me : (  sometimes it is so hard to get corporate America to help. I thought for sure they could send a direct message to people in my zip code giving them my info but every time I call the people who answer the phone don't know how to pass me off to upper management to try and get some action taken : ( ......

[Colleen47]

Great ideas @Lynne'  we have a rental in the mountains of Colorado as well as a small rental cabin in remote alaska. We too have had guests interact with bears. They overflow the trash bins and invite all the critters over to a midnight snack. Regardless of letters and instructions i leave, trash is frequently left out. I’d really hate to see anything happen. Perhaps we could get a magnet for our Alaska cabin? It’s out near Valdez.  Keep it up lady!!

[Lynne']

When the magnets arrive and I see about getting you one - what is your address?

[Ann72]

@Colleen47 

[Carol & Bernie]

Living in SW Virginia at the base of part of the Blue Ridge Parkway we have seen in our neighborhood on occasion baby black bear. It’s an indicator to myself and neighbors that our garbage pails be put inside our garage or securely fastened. Cute to watch hunt but so important to leave them alone. They always find their way back to Mama! Keep up the good work! 

[Lynne']

Yes I agree : )  living in Alaska we are used to having wildlife all around us.  It is the tourists who are unfamiliar and I am trying to get Air BnB to assist me with communicating directly with hosts in my town so I can get magnets and reading material in their properties so the tourists know what to do.  

It is very frustrating that I am not getting any return calls from Air BnB to help me.  I think this would be a great opportunity for them to be pro-community and assist me : (