OT: Bears

[JS]

In April we had a large bear hanging around our property for a week or so. First in 25 years of living here in Fairfield County.

We do a lot of wild bird feeding. I had seven feeders out on the deck, atop 8-foot PVC pipes, bracketed to the deck railing at various points. Also, a large metal bin with bags of bird seed inside.

​

That slanted roof opens upward, but has latches. I woke one morning to find it pushed up from the middle into a tent shape, which freed the front doors. Seed bags broken into.

Was baffled. What could have the strength to do that? Maybe a big raccoon could have a go at it if he didn''t have to sit on the same roof he was lifting. Wife suggested a bear, which I thought highly unlikely after all these years of seeing none.

So I bolted down the roof. Didn't need it to open, given the front doors. A couple mornings later, doors hanging open anyway. Latches sprung, a heavy seed bag dragged halfway down the lawn, 40 yards or so.

So I brought the bags into the garage. Next morning several of the PVC pipes down, brackets broken, feeders violated.

OK, a bear. Nothing else could've done that.

That night, Mrs. JS saw him, casually walking (lumbering, she said) along outside the front door. Big. Longer than my long coffee table and waist high.

Pipes restored, but only one used for a while, and the feeders on that brought inside overnight. Now Mr. Bear seems to have moved on, but I'm still only using that one pole until November, when I understand he'll be sleeping in.

So now, we're seeing lots of reports on the news of bear sightings in Fairfield County. Greenwich a couple of days ago, Trumbull, etc. We didn't report ours. Didn't want him bothered by animal control or trigger happy neighbors or anyone else. He's welcome to the seed, but feeding him and repairing after his sloppy eating habits was a bit of a pain.

Friends living north of Hartford have been seeing them forever, but not down here. We do live on the edge of a forest, and my bird feeding was on the profligate side, so we were a must-stop on the chow hunting trail.

Why now? My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

 

[Golden Husky]

In April we had a large bear hanging around our property for a week or so. First in 25 years of living here in Fairfield County.

We do a lot of wild bird feeding. I had seven feeders out on the deck, atop 8-foot PVC pipes, bracketed to the deck railing at various points. Also, a large metal bin with bags of bird seed inside.

View attachment 67979
​

That slanted roof opens upward, but has latches. I woke one morning to find it pushed up from the middle into a tent shape, which freed the front doors. Seed bags broken into.

Was baffled. What could have the strength to do that? Maybe a big raccoon could have a go at it if he didn''t have to sit on the same roof he was lifting. Wife suggested a bear, which I thought highly unlikely after all these years of seeing none.

So I bolted down the roof. Didn't need it to open, given the front doors. A couple mornings later, doors hanging open anyway. Latches sprung, a heavy seed bag dragged halfway down the lawn, 40 yards or so.

So I brought the bags into the garage. Next morning several of the PVC pipes down, brackets broken, feeders violated.

OK, a bear. Nothing else could've done that.

That night, Mrs. JS saw him, casually walking (lumbering, she said) along outside the front door. Big. Longer than my long coffee table and waist high.

Pipes restored, but only one used for a while, and the feeders on that brought inside overnight. Now Mr. Bear seems to have moved on, but I'm still only using that one pole until November, when I understand he'll be sleeping in.

So now, we're seeing lots of reports on the news of bear sightings in Fairfield County. Greenwich a couple of days ago, Trumbull, etc. We didn't report ours. Didn't want him bothered by animal control or trigger happy neighbors or anyone else. He's welcome to the seed, but feeding him and repairing after his sloppy eating habits was a bit of a pain.

Friends living north of Hartford have been seeing them forever, but not down here. We do live on the edge of a forest, and my bird feeding was on the profligate side, so we were a must-stop on the chow hunting trail.

Why now? My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

Bears:
Black: Fight back
Brown: Lie down
White: Good night

 

[hoopsfan22]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

 

[Bama fan]

I was visiting my sister at her daughter's house near Asheville, N C. There were many black bears in the area, and one kept scaling the rear deck to get at bird feeders. They had to quit the feeding and put a motion detecting light out there to inconvenience the visitor. My niece is a photographer and managed to snap a photo of the visitor on the porch before retreating into the house.

 

[Sonny44]

What ever became of Ice Bear?
I miss him.

 

[CL82]

My son, a veterinary tech, theorizes COVID reduction in human activity caused the bears to start expanding their territory southward out of the Berkshires region. Sounds plausible to me.

I recently read an article that proposed exactly the same thing.

FWIW, In my experience, bears are not particularly dissuaded by human activity.

 

[pinotbear]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

absolutely the right advice. You cannot outfight or outrun a grizzly. But, the vast majority of the time, the grizz isn't trying to prey upon you (unlike black bears). The grizz is merely trying to send a message, that you're too close and have violated the bear's comfort zone. If you reduce your profile as a potential threat/annoyance, by laying down, the bear will usually just give you a nip or two, cuff you, and leave. Mind you, you can still be badly injured by this...but, fighting or fleeing is sending the message that you're a bigger threat, prey, or unpenitent. Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and protect the back of your neck and head with your arms and hands.

 

[pinotbear]

 

[ClifSpliffy]

after aboot 18 months (born typically around january), black bear cubs get the heave-ho from their moms. then, as they remember again to get their groove back, the ladies get frisky. the guys then start chasing them, and continue to do so for a month or two.
sooooooo, now's the time for all of them to get busy nosing around, and for us to take fotos of their shenanigans. plenty of bears here in all 169 towns for the vast majority to have been native born. can a bruin be a husky fan? yep. lol.

 

[Biff]

Way up north here in central CT (Farmington Valley), we have been seeing a tremendous increase in sightings. In the last 5 years I have personally had 6 bear sighting in my yard and more that 6 more sightings elsewhere while driving or cycling.
I once walked out of my garage, turned the corner, and was face to face with a bear (10 feet away). Fortunately the sight of me was so scary to him he ran away and up a tree in my yard where he napped for a couple hours!!!! And JS, since you know me, you know why the bear was so scared when he saw me.

A couple years ago I was in my back yard reading and I looked up to see this guy just waddling past.



Unfortunately they are getting too comfortable around people and there have been several house break ins by bears reported the last couple years. That's where it gets real scary.

 

[Mdoggie]

 

[Golden Husky]

Lie down? Who gave you that advice, the bears?

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

 

[Golden Husky]

This is frightening...and awesome. Thanks, Big Dog.

 

[CL82]

Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and

Kiss your ass goodbye?

 

[Jewels]

Couple of years ago in Bloomfield my grand daughter came face to face with a really large bear as she entered the house. The bear apparently had squeezed through a small opening of a left opened sliding screen door. The bear quickly left the way it came in after having raided the pantry of its favorite sweet yummies. Grand daughter is still not over the incident but she makes sure doors are always tightly closed. Yes the nightly news did feature this event. Still have many sightings around the neighborhood.

 

[huskeynut]

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

Yup - the phrase for identifying a coral snake.

 

[triaddukefan]

I was visiting my sister at her daughter's house near Asheville, N C. There were many black bears in the area, and one kept scaling the rear deck to get at bird feeders. They had to quit the feeding and put a motion detecting light out there to inconvenience the visitor. My niece is a photographer and managed to snap a photo of the visitor on the porch before retreating into the house.

Yeah... Asheville is definitely in the heart of black bear country.... and they get real comfortable... even in the city limits.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

absolutely the right advice. You cannot outfight or outrun a grizzly. But, the vast majority of the time, the grizz isn't trying to prey upon you (unlike black bears). The grizz is merely trying to send a message, that you're too close and have violated the bear's comfort zone. If you reduce your profile as a potential threat/annoyance, by laying down, the bear will usually just give you a nip or two, cuff you, and leave. Mind you, you can still be badly injured by this...but, fighting or fleeing is sending the message that you're a bigger threat, prey, or unpenitent. Having said that, when you lie down, curl up into a ball and protect the back of your neck and head with your arms and hands.

Tell that to Hugh Glass.

 

[cohenzone]

Timely. We are heading today for a few days in a tiny Berkshire Mt town. It’s a VRBO place. The owner said there have been bears in the neighborhood lately. Given the change in the weather forecast, we might be spending more indoor time than we wanted. But we do have to walk the dog who is not much more than a mouthful to a bear.

 

[Jackcatscal]

The best bears of all...

 

[Wilderness]

Better to feed songbirds during the winter while bears are inactive. Attracting a bear to birdfood is bad for the bear - baiting it into close contact with homes and people. We can maintain hummingbird feeders which work visually (no food odor). All the details at most any Fish and Game site.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

hehe 'snakes' (a fairly regular event, tho special this year cuz of two). having been away from the homestead for a bit, a few days ago i head out to check the experimental/research garden. it's in the middle of a grass field, aboot 25 x 15, with 2x4 corner posts, and wrapped in deer netting. as sometimes happens, a large black snake (racer? rat? at least 4 feet) gets all bollixed up in the netting and is toast. fine, 'hey predators! free cable! do ur thing!' yesterday, i cruise out there to show some pals unfamiliar with our wild kingdom, that serpent. as we're looking at that one, i immediately notice the funk of something, and not coming from the snake at hand. nosing around the exterior high grass surrounding most of the garden, i locate an even bigger black snake, now also dead by netting. lovely. where are the army and air force of hungry critters to clean up these snacks? i did notice a mess of crows yakking and squawking in some fieldedge trees (white ash population really, really dying this year) later in the day, when i went back to plant a few yellow tomato cultivars that i've been working on. im hoping that they were yelling at me to leave the area so they could chow down in peace.

there will be a black bear hunting season here in Connecticut as we've gone way past 'cute, interesting' and are now firmly into 'p.i.t.a., dangerous, where's the shotgun?' territory. first the shotgun, to try and send the message to their backside, but iffn that don't work, then the rifle. not a fan of killing anything, unless there is no other option. 'wolf' (ne coyote aboot 1/4 wolf dna) pups count off the charts this year. when they fire up their moonlight serenades, it sounds like the tabernacle choir. or miss wormwoods 3rd grade class recital.

 

[MooseJaw]

Yeah... Asheville is definitely in the heart of black bear country.... and they get real comfortable... even in the city limits.

Some bear info:
bears can't read, therefore a city limit sign is worthless
bears don't know it's a birdfeeder, no a sign won't help.. see point above
99.9% of bears are more afraid of humans, then we are of them
bears don't like bigger bodies, get on a boulder stand tall and make noise
how to tell if a bear is large, if the head looks huge, it's a smaller bear, if the head appears small the bear is large: see photo above mom and cub check out the heads and bodies.
a bear is dangerous, a bear with cubs is a lot more dangerous, a bear on a one night stand is unbearable, a bear lying in the grass smoking is feeling pretty good, just don't make fun of their choice of partners, they don't like that.
Hope this helps, most of the above have been approved by Yogi himself

 

[Bama fan]

Some bear info:
bears can't read, therefore a city limit sign is worthless
bears don't know it's a birdfeeder, no a sign won't help.. see point above
99.9% of bears are more afraid of humans, then we are of them
bears don't like bigger bodies, get on a boulder stand tall and make noise
how to tell if a bear is large, if the head looks huge, it's a smaller bear, if the head appears small the bear is large: see photo above mom and cub check out the heads and bodies.
a bear is dangerous, a bear with cubs is a lot more dangerous, a bear on a one night stand is unbearable, a bear lying in the grass smoking is feeling pretty good, just don't make fun of their choice of partners, they don't like that.
Hope this helps, most of the above have been approved by Yogi himself

BTW, Yogi and Boo Boo are back and starring in a Geico commercial.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

hehe 'snakes' (a fairly regular event, tho special this year cuz of two). having been away from the homestead for a bit, a few days ago i head out to check the experimental/research garden. it's in the middle of a grass field, aboot 25 x 15, with 2x4 corner posts, and wrapped in deer netting. as sometimes happens, a large black snake (racer? rat? at least 4 feet) gets all bollixed up in the netting and is toast. fine, 'hey predators! free cable! do ur thing!' yesterday, i cruise out there to show some pals unfamiliar with our wild kingdom, that serpent. as we're looking at that one, i immediately notice the funk of something, and not coming from the snake at hand. nosing around the exterior high grass surrounding most of the garden, i locate an even bigger black snake, now also dead by netting. lovely. where are the army and air force of hungry critters to clean up these snacks? i did notice a mess of crows yakking and squawking in some fieldedge trees (white ash population really, really dying this year) later in the day, when i went back to plant a few yellow tomato cultivars that i've been working on. im hoping that they were yelling at me to leave the area so they could chow down in peace.

there will be a black bear hunting season here in Connecticut as we've gone way past 'cute, interesting' and are now firmly into 'p.i.t.a., dangerous, where's the shotgun?' territory. first the shotgun, to try and send the message to their backside, but iffn that don't work, then the rifle. not a fan of killing anything, unless there is no other option. 'wolf' (ne coyote aboot 1/4 wolf dna) pups count off the charts this year. when they fire up their moonlight serenades, it sounds like the tabernacle choir. or miss wormwoods 3rd grade class recital.

(snake tales, part deux)
so i checked out the '2 snake deer netting kerfuffle' this am, and i find a third one. never had more than one, ever, in the past ten years of that plot, and now 3, none shorter than aboot 4'. the original two have been chomped up to to the fence line, and the 3rd suprised me so much, that i decided to examine closer tomorrow, or next month. lol. hey, the other wildlife have to eat, too.

 

[Cuango]

Heard it on some Animal Planet show, I think. Admittedly, I'm out of my depth here, Hoops. I've never been hunting, fishing or camping so for me, "roughing it" is opening the window at the Marriott.

Uh, here's another one:

Snakes
Red and black, venom lack.
Black and yellow, kill a fellow.

Actually, I believe it is; red on black, venom lack
Red on yellow, kill a fellow
The point being that if the red stripe is followed by a black stripe, it is not a coral snake while if red is touching yellow, then it is.

 

[triaddukefan]

There was a bear cub spotted in a tree at a hospital in Raleigh yesterday. They placed Krispy Kreme jelly donuts and sardines on the ground in hopes it would entice him to come down. It worked





From an article in the paper

Greg Batts with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said he bought the donuts from Krispy Kreme, which celebrated 84 years of business on Tuesday. Batts squeezed the raspberry jelly out of the donuts around the base of the tree and then put the donuts in a trail along with the sardines.

"I threw out all this food out in the base of this tree and he's laying up there in that tree and he's just smelling that," Batts said. "It's just coming up into his nostrils and some point you know you just gotta say 'I'm getting down out of here, I'm gonna grab some donuts and I'm gonna get out of town.'"

 

[The CDR-Ret]

The best bears of all...

View attachment 67997

I would say the 1985 Bears, and their Super Bowl Shuffle done before the Super Bowl was played...



Final: Bears 46 - Patriots 10

 

[Lurker]

The appearance of bears in CT likely has little to do with COVID, but rather is simply a continuation of range expansion, which has been going on for decades. CT (like most NE states that were formerly less forested) has become more inviting to bears because of suitable habitat. Adults have young, the young move away from the adult female, and those cubs need to find their own territories. Individual females with cubs might live in a territory of 5-10 square miles, whereas males about 10-50. So just think about it as new locations that have suitable but currently unoccupied bear territory now becoming occupied by resident bears that needed their own territory. It's a progression, and we're not anywhere near having our state populated as densely as it can be by bears. So human-bear interactions will increase, trash cans will be opened, houses breached, etc.. The challenge is that, unlike having more chipmunks or squirrels, an adult bear is extremely powerful and can do a lot of damage, and it can be dangerous. stay tuned...

Bears in CT that have had problematic encounters with people can be trapped and released, and will have large visible ear tags to identify them as problem bears (they're tracked and on their own progression at that point). If you have a bear on your property with ear tags, be cautious about trying to encourage it to leave. An unacclimated (to humans) black bear tends to be shy - that is their more natural state. The pictured bear was about 20' away (I had been in my yard when it suddenly appeared) when I put the phone down to stop taking pictures and escalated to yelling AND banging a shovel against a metal pail. It immediately pivoted and went in the opposite direction. It's not a step I would recommend to everyone and ever situation. I've had to co-exist with bears in wilderness campsites - you develop a feel for which bears to encourage to leave in which situations compared to letting them do what they want. I didn't want the pictured bear (no tags), who was pretty relaxed, to feel welcome and make itself at home.... so I decided to be proactive to chase it away. The bear was beautiful (great face) and I admired it, but I just preferred it not making itself at home.

And bobcats are also expanding. But they tend to retreat rapidly once they become aware of the presence of humans.

Sorry - decided to remove the attachments so they wouldn't be used in other ways...

 

[D J B]

Years ago, when I was a scoutmaster, I would talk to my scouts about bears, and bear safety. I personally have had experience with two bears up close and it was a nervous several minutes, but it worked out fine.

The number one rule is to never get between a mother bear and her cubs, but there are other things to consider as well.

I told them that most important was to alert bears well in advance of your presence if you were in bear country. Talk, make noise, rattle a few pots and pans if you could. Also, some people attach bells (like those jingle bells from Christmas) to their backpacks. Above all, you don't want to startle a bear. Given a chance, they will give you plenty of room.

Defensive safety is also important. Rule number one, never run from a bear, no matter how impossible that might sound. (I know the old joke that you only need to be able to outrun the person you are with.) Some folks carry guns in bear country, but that isn't always an option and a bad idea if you don't know what you're doing. Many hikers swear by bear spray and keep a can with them.

Also important is knowing which type of bear you are likely to find in your area. The best way of doing this is to examine any bear scat (poop) you find. If it contains mostly vegetation and berries, you are most likely dealing with small brown or black bears. Grizzly scat will smell like bear spray and contain little small bells.