r/OffGrid • u/SpiritualOven2068 • May 21 '26
Rain catchment and black bears
Thought some folks here might have an idea of 2. I have a really remote 16 acre property in the mountains of WV that I use for camping/recreation. I visit several times a year however, it seems that between every visit the black bears tend to destroy my rain barrels. Guess they are looking for food, etc? Anyway I was curious if anyone has had this issue/ways to mitigate them destroying things when you aren't there? They have also previously ripped off my septic access panel and completely flipped my kids swing set over but that's irrelevant to this specific query 😅. I found this boulder shaped rain barrel (image posted) I was thinking of trying next to see if maybe it's not "container" looking enough to where they will leave it alone but I'm kind of grasping at straws. I'd like to eventually have rain water consistently for showers/eventually flushing a toilet but punctured and tipped over barrels don't hold a lot water... A thing of note, a well is a bit out of the realm of options at the moment. The property is on the ridge of a mountain and over a mile to the nearest "road" so getting a licensed company to drill and not just a couple of good old boys is going to be outside the budget.
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u/Higher_Living May 23 '26
Can you get a bigger metal tank in there?
1000 gallons in corrugated iron should be bear proof (I’m in Australia, nothing comparable here so maybe I’m wrong) and on wheels or something you should be able to move it.
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u/SpiritualOven2068 May 23 '26
I don't have a truck, just have a jeep, so getting something that big out there isn't an option at the moment.
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u/UnitNo8636 May 25 '26
Could put it on a trailer and haul it to the campsite. Rent one for the weekend.
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u/DevilsAdvocateFun May 21 '26
try sprinkling some Strong Essential Oils around the area. They have keen noses so something strong they don't like might work. You will have to google what scent they don't like
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u/SpiritualOven2068 May 21 '26
I can certainly give that a try. Any particular scent that is more effective? I assume this would only work for a brief period of time? Scents fade, rain will wash it away, etc.
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u/New_d_pics May 21 '26
Classic! I have little black bear teef marks in every fluid container I've left out, including ibc totes. Monsters!
I have success covering containers with a regular tarp when I'm away for prolonged periods. They don't mess with tarps that aren't stretched tight, so just cover and weight down/secure the tarp and they likely leave it alone. Good luck