Early Summer Black Bear Blues

Bears can cause damage to fruit trees that can be irreparable. I've lost a pear tree and sustain annual damage to fruit trees this time of year, even though the fruit has yet to ripen.

GREENE COUNTY - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) just released guidance entitled, “Why Early Summer Brings More Bear Sightings”. You can type the following to search for one source for DEC’s advice from their partner, “Bearwise” at https://bearwise.orgwhy-early-summer-brings-more-bear-sightings/

DEC and Bearwise say there are reasons we see an increase in bear sightings this time of year. Even if there are no real negative impacts from a bear sighting, it makes a good news story, especially when they are seen and photographed in unexpected places. So, bears have been front and center in TV and print media coverage recently. Especially regarding the injuries sustained by a Palenville woman just a few weeks ago. More on that later.

I can personally attest to persistent increased bear activity and damage this year. In the past few weeks, I observed six different bears, from sows with cubs to twin bachelors and one larger lone boar who have been destroying large sections of my front and side yard fruit trees; even though the pears, and apples are not near ripening. Firing rubber buck shot at the rumps of a few of the offending bears has, as expected, proved to be ineffective. I’m currently deploying a pretty inexpensive remote audio system to see if that gets the job done. I’ll advise in a future column if the cheap remote motion speakers did the trick or are a “fruitless” endeavor. The only surefire way to keep bears from things like bee hives, fruit trees, etc. is to surround them with an electric fence. That’s easier said than done and is a costly but effective alternative. 

Here’s the professional’s official explanation for this annual human-bear phenomenon: 

Most bears spotted in unlikely or unusual places in early summer fall into three categories: 

Juvenile male bears that denned up with their moms last winter and got booted out this spring. No matter how big and furry they look, these bears are about 18 months old and are just trying to figure out how to live on their own. Juvenile males need to disperse and find a place to call home where they can find food, shelter and eventually a mate. Juvenile female bears, however, are often allowed to move in next door to their moms, so most wandering bears are males. These young bears are often lonely and lack the fully developed survival skills of an adult bear. They are also hungry and inquisitive and will check out anything that seems as if it might be a source of food. Like human teenagers, they are at a very impressionable stage of life. If they quickly discover that human places should be avoided, they will be forced to learn to support themselves as wild bears. If they find the backyard pickings are easy, they start down a road that is often a dead end for them. 

Adult male bears are roaming far and wide in search of a mate. Both male and female bears may mate several times in early summer; in fact, it’s not unusual for cubs from a single litter to each have a different father. But female bears rarely leave their home ranges; for the good of the gene pool, they let the males come find them. So adult male bears may travel long distances through various females’ home ranges. 

New moms have lots of mouths to feed. Mother bears may have between one and six cubs depending on her for their survival. Natural spring and early summer food sources such as grasses and developing plants are just not as calorie-dense and nutritious as the nuts and fruits that ripen later in the year. So, mother bears often need to travel further from their dens looking for food. Cubs take after their parents in several ways: they are super-smart, learn quickly and are very adaptable. If mom teaches them to raid the garbage or bat down bird feeders or sends them in through pet doors to see what’s in the kitchen, it creates a whole new generation of problems for people and bears. 

Don’t approach bears. Don’t feed bears. Be extra-vigilant during this extra-critical time. Follow the At-Home BearWise Basics and use the BearWise At-Home Checklist make sure there’s nothing around your property or home that will attract bears

What can you do to discourage bears and minimize conflicts?  

Follow the recommendations contained in At-Home BearWise Basics by:

Never Feeding or Approaching Bears

Securing Food, Garbage and Recycling

Remove Bird Feeders When Bears are Active

Never Leave Pet Food Outdoors

Clean and Store Grills and Smokers

Alert Neighbors to Bear Activity

Go online and use the BearWise At-Home Checklist.

I’ll add Negative Conditioning to the list – “Critter Gitter” and cheaper generics can be deployed to protect fruit trees and other specific areas.

What can DEC do? In my opinion, the most effective thing DEC can do to protect residents in Greene County is to increase opportunities for hunters to harvest more bears targeting nuisance bears in areas where they do lots of damage and pose some risk to the public. Specifically, they need to open Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 4S to the September bear firearms season. This geographic area includes Palenville and other heavy traditional human-bear conflict locations. This change is long overdue. Hopefully, two recent physical human-bear contacts, thankfully resulting in non-fatal, yet serious injuries to two people in Greene County, will be the final evidence needed to push DEC Wildlife to the logical conclusion to open WMU 4S to the early bear gun hunt. It’s been called for by biologists for more than a decade. The September gun season catches bad bears in their late summer nuisance patterns. This makes it much easier to harvest nuisance bears who are causing the most problems. 

Happy hunting, fishing, and trapping until next time!

News and Notes

The Greene County Youth Fair - July 23rd through July 26th 

The Greene County Youth Fair, NY’s last free county fair experience, will be hosted once again in Cairo at Angelo Canna Park from July 23rd through July 26th. Check out all the homespun free events and attractions and remember to stop by in the Trade Tent and at the tables of the Greene County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs to sign up for this year’s Youth Pheasant Hunt.