Montana’s wildlife is one big benefit of being a Montanan — or visiting here. Tourism, an important economic engine in the state, is fueled significantly by visitors interested in viewing wildlife. That’s why learning to live with wildlife and avoiding conflicts makes good personal and economic sense.

In the past when a wild animal came in conflict with a homeowner or someone outdoors recreating, one easy response was to ask Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to relocate the animal. That may have been a common Band-Aid solution, but no more.

These days, wildlife experts say a better, more cost-effective and long-term solution is to identify what attractants brought the critter into conflict and how to defuse the situation.

“Defusing it” differs depending on the situation. For example, it might mean erecting electric fences around a beehive, feeding pets indoors rather than outdoors, purchasing a bear-resistant garbage receptacle, or removing landscaping in favor of deer resistant shrubs and flowers. Here’s how to begin.

Sleuth work will reveal the root cause of a conflict. “If I were a deer, skunk or bear, why would I come here?” The answer may be found in your own yard or the yards of one or more of your neighbors. It may be an old habit that never caused a problem before, for example feeding the dog outside.

The vast majority of wildlife visits and conflicts are directly linked to food, water and shelter. Most homeowners cultivate irresistible wildlife habitat around their homes. To wildlife, it is a nonverbal welcome sign.

Landscape plantings, flowers, vegetable gardens, fruit trees and accumulations of spilled birdseed are a smorgasbord to deer. Backyard goldfish ponds are watering holes for a variety of species, including raccoons. A duck or an unwary deer attracted to a secluded backyard is, in turn, an easy meal for a mountain lion.

Suet, birdseed, compost heaps and garbage containers are irresistible to hungry bears. The shelter provided under decks, porches and outbuildings attracts a variety of creatures looking for a home, including skunks, raccoons and snakes. When wildlife suddenly makes use of such “hangouts” it’s likely there are also pet foods, compost heaps, spilled bird seed, unsecured garbage and other sources of food are nearby.

Once the attractants are identified, a homeowner can remove them or make them more secure. It’s always better to head off potential problems before a conflict with wildlife occurs. Unsecured garbage and other sources of human or pet food are a particular problem. Openings in the boxed-in eves of a house, access underneath decks and porches — all can be closed up fairly easily to head off problems.

Montana law makes it illegal to provide supplemental food attractants to “game animals,” including deer, elk and other ungulates, bears or mountain lions, or to fail to properly store feed so these species have access to it.

Artificial concentrations of game animals may lead to automobile collisions, physical dangers to people and pets, and transmission of wildlife diseases. It also may lead to the removal or euthanasia of the animal itself — definitely a lose/lose situation.

Wild animals don’t grasp concepts like private property or living up to our expectations. But it’s fairly easy to communicate to a bear that there’s no benefit in hanging around your home or business to raid a bee hive, eat the tulips or rip into the garbage. Just make sure there isn’t. They’ll get the message in no time.

For more on living with wildlife, visit online at fwp.mt.gov at the “Fish & Wildlife” page and click on “Living With Wildlife.”

Diane Tipton is the statewide information officer for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.