Bears

[Scott G.]

[snip] To me either we have to accept the consequences of having them in the wild or we don't at all. They are not aware of our own rules.

It's politics, in the case of wolves.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...the-libs-idaho

[bcm119]

Anyone who has visited Yosemite knows that the bear population there is very tuned in to human food and how to acquire it. If you leave a cooler in the back seat of your car, bears will tear the door off to get it. The park staff claim the bears even target certain car models. But there are very few encounters that result in people getting hurt or bears being put down.

[72gmc]

I love Glacier NP. Every time I've visited, I've hoped to see a bear, but only at a great distance. I figure there's no way I'm going to see a wolverine, so I'll keep looking for a bear.

[Moke]

Montana is getting more bear (griz) populated. We are getting a few griz drifting into areas that have not had griz for 75 years ish. I carry my bear spray in a cutdown water bottle on the downtube cage. Sort of a fast draw style set up. I have not seen a griz on a bike ride yet while on a trail. Have seen a couple while riding the Going to the Sun in Glacier Park, in the distance. I have seen several mama and cub black bears on our local trails. Usually I just turn around at first site if they aren't between me and home. I use great caution with black bears too. Especially with cubs. I worry more about mountain lions as they seem to be encroaching more on towns than the griz. They are sort of sneaky and come from behind. Unfortunately cities are attractive to bears as people let fruit trees in their yards drop their fruit and just rot on the ground, fail to secure their trash, and leave the grill in open areas that attract bears like a all you can grab buffet. It is true around here that a fed bear is a dead bear. Another interesting bear factoid here is the bear dogs that are trained for hard release of a trapped bear. I am sure there are You tube shots of those rascals. One of our neighbors has a couple of the dogs. Pretty cool dogs, but sort of a rustic breed.

[jdanke]

Finally got the vid from my wife, who also saw a black bear on the 3rd (the same day as Jorn) in her walk in the open space across the road. They were on the same trail, but the bear didn't notice her. Probably was lost in thought.

There are lots of black bears here in Granby, Conn. Lots of open space. I've seen my fair share crossing the road while biking (once, noticed mama on one side and cubs on the other). Once I went for a run across the street, took notice of the new "Be Bear Aware!" sign, and when I looked back ahead saw one walking through the tall grass right at me! We both decided to conduct our business in opposite directions.

We've lived here 12 years and just last year the bears started cutting through our yard now and then. I was once on a work zoom at the time, so was able to share with my teammates. That was fun for everyone!

bear_may3.jpg
(yeah, I know it looks like a Patterson-Gimlin shot, but it's a bear)

[Tom]

A couple of years ago an Uber driver in Schenectady got cell phone video of one strolling down the sidewalk next to the Union College campus during the middle of the night. It caused quite a stir.

[Marvinlungwitz]

Despite all the time our family has spent in Northern Michigan, where bear warning signs are plentiful, I’ve never seen one in the wild.

I told the kids the first one to spot a bear for me would get a $100 prize. No one ever collected.

[monadnocky]

Despite all the time our family has spent in Northern Michigan, where bear warning signs are plentiful, I’ve never seen one in the wild.

I told the kids the first one to spot a bear for me would get a $100 prize. No one ever collected.

I see this as a good thing (as I'm sure you realize). They're plentiful there, I'm sure, but appropriately wary. I remember living in Morris County, NJ - hardly the sticks - and I'd see them all the time, usually waking my dog in a suburban neighborhood, completely accustomed to the people around them. They would barely even register your presence. Sad.

[j44ke]

I see this as a good thing (as I'm sure you realize). They're plentiful there, I'm sure, but appropriately wary. I remember living in Morris County, NJ - hardly the sticks - and I'd see them all the time, usually waking my dog in a suburban neighborhood, completely accustomed to the people around them. They would barely even register your presence. Sad.

A friend was working on a book about NJ bears. Evidently they are a special case where they actually move from PA to NJ during hunting season in PA. They used to go back to PA when hunting season ended to hibernate but now many of them stay. That movement creates a lot of social instability for the bears, so you get sort of a housing crisis and that results in bears living in atypical situations - like the lady who thought her furnace was making weird sounds and the furnace repair guy discovered a big bear hibernating in the crawl space. Or the viral video where the bear family take over a kiddy pool and swing set in someone’s backyard. Suburban bear populations where living in “the wild” might not actually be part of their skill set. Or as he says “fast food bears.”

[72gmc]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...wild-bears/amp

You gave me an excuse to share John McPhee!

[mnoble485]

C8313E13-C794-4E04-B5F2-8CB22A1E97B8.jpg

A couple years ago the wife and I bought a small piece of land in north Asheville. Last summer we were clearing a small part of the land, near the street. My wife called out, 'look!'. I look up to see a large turkey walking across the street. This was about 10 meters from where we were standing. As soon as the turkey crossed the road, an adolescent bear walks the same path but in opposite direction. Not knowing the exact age of the bear I was afraid momma bear would soon follow. So I suggested we jump in the car. While in the car, wife grabs her phone and starts to record the encounter. In the video you can hear her whisper to herself and in the sweetest voice, 'maybe the bear was coming after the wild turkey'.
I died laughing and thought of the old shift change of Ralf Wolf and Sam Sheepdog cartoons.

We are about 30 minutes west of Asheville and although we have seen much evidence that bears do indeed shit in the woods this is the only pic we have gotten. He or she has been spotted several times but always runs the othe way.

Mike

[j44ke]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...wild-bears/amp

You gave me an excuse to share John McPhee!

Nice essay.

[j44ke]

So the bear ate the bluebird nestlings. The eggs had just started hatching yesterday, and evidently bears have an ear for nestlings. I chased deer off the front lawn last night around midnight, which is a little weird once food in the woods starts to appear so maybe they sensed the bear was around. Seems like anytime they are nervous, they like to be right in front of the house. Then this morning I looked outside and didn't see the box. So I went out to look for it and saw this:



I found two nestlings dead on the ground. No eggs and no female bluebird. The male bluebird showed up while I was out there, and he was not happy. There were 5 eggs total, so possibly there were two nestlings and three eggs in the nest and the eggs rolled out the entry hole. The door did not open even though there was a nice tooth or claw mark and a missing chunk on the side of the house.



How do I know it was a bear? Raccoons can't do this.



Bear modification.



I initially took the whole thing down, figuring that location is now cursed. Bears can be habitual about spots they've found food, which is why they can become nuisance bears once they discover your garbage cans. But the bluebirds were hovering in the air over the area where the house was, so I used my extra rebar (I'll straighten the other one later) to set it back up. They've been bringing food (in vain) to it now for about an hour, but slowly but surely they are giving up. If they don't start rebuilding by this evening, I'll take it down after dark.

So this now qualifies as natural but suboptimal bear behavior. Might need to pick up a box of firecrackers.

[SlowPokePete]

Wow that's a shame, Jorn.

SPP

[bigbill]

I used to spend summers working in the mountains west of Ward, CO. We did trash runs with an old army ton and a quarter truck. The dump was at the end of a narrow road so I had to back down about 300 yards. One morning we were unloading the truck when a black bear and cubs showed up. Mama bear acknowledged our presence with a low growl. We just sat on top the cab until the bears had their fill of kitchen garbage and left. I wasn't about to climb down before then.

[Mabouya]

Jorn,

That's a shame.

It's too late for the dead ones, but could you put the nesting box on a tree/branch that's too small for the bears to climb, but strong enough that they can't knock it down? I'm not sure if that's a trade-off that's even possible, but it might work. Or maybe do some research on how to best locate bird nesting boxes in areas frequented by bears.

Edit:

I found this: http://www.sialis.org/bears.htm

[j44ke]

Jorn,

That's a shame.

It's too late for the dead ones, but could you put the nesting box on a tree/branch that's too small for the bears to climb, but strong enough that they can't knock it down? I'm not sure if that's a trade-off that's even possible, but it might work. Or maybe do some research on how to best locate bird nesting boxes in areas frequented by bears.

Edit:

I found this: http://www.sialis.org/bears.htm

I saw that. The photo of the bent over box is about the same orientation as mine was in. I realize now that photo above is not how I found it - I removed the house and conduit from the rebar to check inside for eggs or nestlings. Brain skipped over that part. I was moving fast without coffee at that point in the morning.

The bluebirds hung out at the house for a day. Then the next day the female didn't make an appearance. The male was very present though, flying around and calling then later singing. They have a lovely thrush-like song that is sometimes difficult to hear completely but up close is full of tinkling burbling sounds like a Veery, Wood thrush or Hermit thrush (all in the same family Turdidae.) Yesterday evening the female reappeared and started shoving pine needles into the house on the opposite side of the yard. This morning she was there again building at 6AM. Time is a-wasting.

I have four houses out, spaced 50-60 feet apart. Last year, the swallows and wrens made everything very competitive. This year, not so much. Two houses are completely empty and no one seems interested, except for the switch by the bluebirds after the bear. They spent a lot of time checking out this other house, but eventually occupied the one the bear munched. So now they are back to their #2 choice essentially.

I did a lot of reading online and asked my father who knows more about bluebirds having volunteered on projects in Virginia. He concurred with putting the box back up and letting the bluebirds decide. And I read something from a guy with a farm in NC who has about 30 some bluebird boxes around his property. He said all of his boxes have gotten munched by bears at one time or another. He just puts them back up. His theory is that in early spring, bears are in max scrounging mode for food. Digging up grubs, eating bird feeders left out too long, compost heaps, firewood piles for mice nests and bluebird houses. Later they'll catch a few fawns, eat a woodchuck or two, chipmunks, eat berries and fill up with corn. Bears evidently spend a lot of time in corn fields. So even when a bear trashes a box in the spring, the second attempt by the bluebirds is usually successful. The bear is on to other menu items.

I looked around the property, and any downed tree or stump with exposed roots and cavities has been excavated. There is one burrow where I've seen a skunk go in and out of, and that's been opened up. The area where the bluebird house is has a lot of vole tunnels and entries/exits from winter, and that's had some digging too. And there is at least one rolled log nearby that is newly moved. So the bear was grocery shopping.

If the bear makes a habit of this, I'll just take them all down in August and figure something else out. Someone locally has a modified flagpole that raises the house to 10' with an internally routed rope and pulley at the top. The house is attached to a small section of pipe that slides on the pole and doesn't spin in the wind. Pretty ingenious. But it seems to require setting the pole in concrete and I'm not sure I want to do that.

So we'll see how this goes.

[j44ke]

Success! Tuesday evening, the adult bluebirds were hopping around in the trees above the bluebird box and making noises. I thought perhaps here was a snake or squirrel or something threatening the nest, but when I went out and looked around, I couldn't find anything. Wednesday morning I looked out at the box, and the male was on the box and the female was in a nearby tree. So I went about making coffee. Next time I looked out, nothing. So I went to check the box and it was empty. Agh! What happened?! Then I heard them making noises back and forth, calling to each other, and I knew that the young birds fledged. They spent the day circulating around the edge of the woods, figuring out flying and sitting on branches. The parents kept feeding them and chasing squirrels who came within 30'. And at last light, the young birds piled on top of each other (or as near as possible) and puffed up for the night on a pine branch near the crown of a big pine with the adults in other trees nearby. So far so good.

[Mabouya]

Well, Mom and Dad will be happy that the second set made it. Hopefully it won't be long until the fledglings are 100% up and away on their own.

[j44ke]

Well, Mom and Dad will be happy that the second set made it. Hopefully it won't be long until the fledglings are 100% up and away on their own.

Last year, the adults stopped feeding their two kids after about 3 weeks from fledging, and by the end of summer the female had moved on. But the kids and dad formed a triumvirate and looked for food together until the snows came in December. I don't know if they migrated further south then, but they became less present in the yard at least. Then in the early spring when everything went boggy with melt, the male showed up again, singing away. That's when I set up the houses again.

I'll clean out this year's house this weekend but leave it up over winter. Last winter the chickadees and titmice used them on the super cold nights in the minus digits. The boxes developed a "high water" mark inside made of a few stray feathers from all the birds piling in on top of each other to keep warm. Then in spring, I take them down. give them a good cleaning and repair anything that needs it, then put them back up. This year I relocated each one, but next year I think I'll keep the same locations. Other than the bear, they have been pretty successful.

edit: BTW that bear-chomped house is presently full of house wrens. Six baby house wrens! Such a tiny bird to lay so many eggs. The wren parents are harvesting our cutworm population to keep them fed.