By remaining calm and following a few simple safety rules, you will likely avoid harm and will have a wonderful sight to behold. In residential areas they will also eat pet food, garbage, and birdseed. Based on reported sightings, bears are more likely to be in neighborhoods near forested areas from late May through July. If you do see a bear, stay calm, stand tall, wave your arms, and talk to identify yourself as a human. Give the bear plenty of room and an escape route.
Black bears are typically non-aggressive and tend to avoid people.
However, if frightened, they may become less predictable. You can minimize your chances of encountering a bear in your yard by removing your bird feeders and keeping garbage cans and pet food indoors. Birds will do quite well during the summer months without the bird feeders, and they will return to your yard when you put the feeders back up in the fall. Low winter precipitation totals in the Northwest are still causing drought concerns despite recent April showers. That is only 59 percent of the 1948-2000 historical average of 734mm for those six months.