The city of Bozeman is starting a pilot program to provide some residents with bear-resistant trash cans.

A number of bears have made their way into Bozeman in the last couple of weeks as they are in “hyperphagia,” or the phase where they eat nonstop to gear up for winter. And Bozeman, a city where the use of bear resistant trash cans is rare, is a bonanza for the hungry bruins.

“Garbage is the number one attractant for bears — its high calorie, higher calorie than any other natural food and its highly accessible,” said Blakeley Adkins with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “With people not securing garbage or keeping it inside, you’re bringing bears in basically.”

Adkins noted that a lot of the bears they find going after garbage in town are those that “have to work a bit harder” for food, commonly younger bears or a sow with cubs.

This fall, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has already euthanized at least one bear that was getting into garbage in Bozeman, and there have been reports of other bears feeding on trash in town.

Last week, the city announced a pilot program to make a small number of bear resistant cans available to residents in certain neighborhoods with a lot of bear activity. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other groups worked with the city on the project.

Kevin Handelin, the city’s solid waste superintendent, said Monday that they ordered 50 cans in two sizes, and had heard from about 10 residents interested in the cans so far. He put in an order for 100 more cans.

They’re not cheap. While a normal can costs about $57, Handelin said the bear resistant cans cost about $500 apiece.

Under the pilot program, the city provides the cans for free and charges residents $5 extra per month for their use.

This is the first time the city is providing any residents with the bear-resistant cans, Handelin said, and it isn’t common at this point for residents to buy them on their own.

“We’ve looked them over and analyzed them, it’s a pretty rugged container,” Handelin said.

The city is going to gauge interest in the resistant cans, Handelin said, and see if the program should be expanded.

The city is prioritizing the cans for residents in areas frequented by bears — including the neighborhood out Bridger Canyon Road and areas of southeast Bozeman.

The city chose those areas due to a higher rate of bear activity, Handelin said, though they know bears can be an issue throughout town.

The cans are part of a larger effort. Handelin said the city is trying to educate people about securing their garbage inside their garage and getting rid of other attractants at this time of year, like bird feeders or ripe fruit that has fallen off the tree.

The city is also recommending residents in those areas put their cans out for pick-up the morning of, rather than the night before, since bears seem to usually go after garbage cans at night. The city has changed its pickup routes to not hit those neighborhoods until after 9 a.m., Handelin said.

Securing garbage is a major focus for those looking to reduce bear conflicts.

“By and large bear-resistant trash cans are one of the easiest ways to secure your attractants,” said Greg Lemon, a spokesperson for FWP. “We really want to put the attention on avoiding conflict, securing your attractants and avoiding getting bears into conflict in that way because a lot of times when that happens the outcome for that bear is not good.”

Adkins said the city’s pilot program is a good start, but likely won’t be enough to significantly address the problem. She referenced a study out of Durango, Colorado, that found that bear conflict declined when about 60% of residents complied with either using a bear-resistant can or otherwise securing their garbage.

“There’s a lot of communities in Montana that are a lot further along than Bozeman,” Adkins said. “It’s up to us to prevent conflict in town.”