Coexisting with Black Bears

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2015/04 - April

North Carolina Wildlife Enforcement Officer Mark Ray and Wildlife Biologist Justin McVey are the go-to wild animal experts in our region. They offer the following information as part of their educational outreach to those of us who share the air and land with our state’s abundant wildlife. This month the topic is Bears.

Almost every winter in North Carolina bears go into torpor, a kind of lethargy to save energy. It’s not true  hibernation because they are aware, occasionally moving around. Female bears give birth during torpor. The number of cubs is directly related to the acorn crop and mast (fruit, nuts, etc.) produced the year before. Bad crop, no cubs. Good crop, maybe two cubs. Abundant crop, as many as five.

How does that work? Fertilized eggs from previous summer’s mating are held in stasis. In the fall depending upon food availability, environmental stress, etc., the eggs are implanted or simply reabsorbed.

During winter Mother Bear can’t expend too much energy as her cubs’ survival depends upon her ability to suckle them. In essence, the family lives off her fat stored from last year’s mast while she semi-snoozes. If there were a massively abundant food crop from the previous year, bears wouldn’t experience torpor.

Yogi Bear aside, if bears could really talk, the first thing out of their mouths after emerging from their winter bungalows (which happens this time of year, by the way) would be, “Man! Am I hungry!” They emerge in nose-mode. A bear can out-sniff a bloodhound. They can detect salmon bits on last night’s grill from five miles away.

What else is on a bear’s menu? When we put out birdseed, particularly black oil sunflower seeds, it’s like clanging a dinner bell. When we leave a dog food bin on the porch we have opened a bear cafeteria.

Bears are opportunist eaters. If food’s there, they are going to try to eat it. And they have elephant memories. If they scavenged from a restaurant’s large green dumpster once, it’s a lifelong recall. Henceforth, any over-sized green box is now a probable dinette.

So what is to be done? Simple. If food isn’t out, bears won’t be tempted to rummage. Bears are smart, but not THAT smart. They don’t get it that your porch is forbidden territory. They were here long before us, and a verandah looks like flat forest with dinner potential.

Drenching garbage cans with vinegar and/or cayenne pepper is sometimes effective, but McVey says, “A really hungry bear will barrel through stench and burning cayenne to get to food. And once it’s done that, deterrents no longer work.”

The first step toward solving the problem is to purchase a bearproof garbage unit. They cost around $200 and can be ordered through your favorite building supply. Too pricey? You can build your own using bear-proof hasps.

Other solutions: feed birds only during winter months (assuming it is a torpor year). If you compost, turn well daily. More information about bear co-existence can be found at www.ncwildlife.org/bear.

Invite Officer Ray and Biologist McVey to your club, school, church, or business, to speak more about sharing the mountains with bears. Mark Ray: (828) 200-2836; Biologist Justin McVey: (828) 273-7980.

Stay tuned next month for dos and don’ts if you happen upon a fawn in your travels.