What Is Wild Neighbor?
Shannon Sommer
Wild Neighbor is dedicated to reducing conflicts with American black bears (Ursus americanus) through proactive, non-lethal, science-informed strategies through the use of bear-resistant deterrents and educational consulting.
Wild Neighbor is owned & operated by Jessica West (B.S., Humboldt State University), wildlife biologist & former Environmental Scientist and Human-Wildlife Conflict Specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
With over two decades of hands-on field work experience and state-wide black bear population and conflict research across the Transverse Ranges of Southern California, Jessica brings bear-specific expertise directly to your property.
Wild Neighbor Offers:
Property assessments & attractant management recommendations
Crawl space inspections & humane evictions
Installation of bear-resistant deterrent setups (such as electric mats and wiring for crawl spaces, chicken coops, raised decks, bee yards, gardens, garbage storage areas, windows, etc.)
Professional consultation & guidance for homeowners, communities, commercial operations, and more
Why Conflict Prevention Matters
Johanna Turner
When you work with Wild Neighbor, you help:
- Bears from becoming food-conditioned
- Bears from becoming overly habituated to humans
- Bears from having to be euthanized
- Prevent property damage to homes, agricultural, businesses, and more
- Reduce conflict between (human) neighbors
- Lower wildlife management agency/enforcement need to respond
Why Wild Neighbor?
Johanna Turner
Wild Neighbor was created to help address the growing number of human-bear conflict and incidents occurring in Southern California.
We complement existing wildlife management efforts by providing site-specific support at the property level where many conflicts originate. We fill a critical gap in available conflict prevention resources and draw from hands-on experience working with people and bears.
Living with bears shouldn’t mean waiting for a costly middle-of-the-night incident to occur. While professional guidance and commercial-grade bear-resistant deterrent setups require an upfront investment, proactive conflict prevention is vastly cheaper than paying for structural repairs, shattered doors, or destroyed property after a bear gets inside. Beyond financial protection, unwanted bear activity can escalate rapidly - putting your property at risk while habituating wildlife to human food sources.
Shannon Sommer
Why Investing in Bear-Resistant Deterrents and Consulting Pays Off
Avoid High Repair Costs: Replacing broken doors, ruined siding, destroyed coops, or torn-up crawl space infrastructure costs significantly more than a single, high-quality prevention setup.
You Protect the Lives of Bears: Once a bear learns that your home holds rewards, it may return repeatedly; professional deterrents create a safe, physical boundary that breaks this behavior.
Protect What Matters Most: Advanced deterrent systems safeguard your pets, livestock, and loved ones by keeping wildlife at a safe distance from active living spaces.
Hazing and Relocation are Only Temporary Fixes: Standard visual scare tactics only startle most bears temporarily before they learn to ignore them. Relocation is rarely a viable long-term solution.
Preserve Property Value & Peace of Mind: Enjoy your property without constant hyper-vigilance or the stress of wondering what “might” happen.