Moving and Feeding Again

Well I am getting early calls about bear at feeders the first week of September. Well it looks like bears will be denning early, as food is hard to come by. The berries are gone, the apple crop is in off year, as are beech nuts. A bear suddenly coming to feeders this early or late is off a little and hungry looking for winter fat. There is no question there is a lot of bear. For three years record numbers of cubs, poor hunting weather and good food have produced some nice bear. Any predication of harvest numbers yet for anyone? I was thinking 3,200.

New Season

A new bear season is underway. If the weather is good, the harvest should also be good. Berries have gone by and the mast crop isn't ready yet. The weather is the key factor at the moment, rain, hot, rain and it looks like warm temperatures for the opening week. Let me know how you folks are making out.

The Traveler

Well the sows are coming into heat. She most likely has kicked the 1 1/2 year olds out or at least doesn't fend for them anymore. The MALES are traveling and traveling they do, it is reported that a male can smell a sow in heat from 10 miles away. A nose that is 1500 times stronger than that of a bloodhound. It is not unusual for a male to travel more than twenty miles in a day, searching for the proper female. It is also the time of year that males will kill cubs when given a chance. The reason for this is simple, put the sow back in heat. Studies suggest that by the end of June close to 50% of the cubs born in January of this year will have died, either from drowning in dens, lost and starved, starved or killed by other bears. So life is nature goes.

Sow

I just got off the phone with Pete, down Machias way. Guess what he said, "I was sitting at the computer when something caught my eye outside the window, walking by. I got up and looked out only to see momma bear walking directly to the bird feeder. She stood up and sniffed, only to realize that the feeder was empty. She dropped down and walked away into the woods, most likely heading to the neighbors feeder." It is that time of year where the bear are breeding and searching for a free meal.

Waldo County

The time has come to relocate a few bear, as we did with those wonderful deer and bear nut stealing Turkeys. There is a spot in Maine devoid of bear for many a year. Waldo county and surrounding areas. It is very hard for bear to make it across the Penobscot River and females don't really extend their home range quick enough to make the population grow. The habitat in the Waldo area is ideal for bear. This would open more opportunity for sportsman and guides, but will the landowners well another critter, we need to start talking with farmers and other landowners about the transfer of bear to Waldo.

Crossing Route 9

I was talking with IFW about bears crossing Route 9 down my way. It seems that the collared females don't cross route 9. Since I run a lot of baits down this way and have yet to see a collared female near a bait, south of Route 9, I can only appreciate that noise and payment create a problem. That and the small home range of the sow. On the other hand, it appears that male yearlings, looking for their own piece of ground will make the cross over and head south from time to time. Just interesting information.

Bear Funding

If one considers lets say that Maine Fish/Game sells 15,000 bear permits at an average of $50 a throw, we are talking over $750,000. Why is that we are not spending that income back into research. The entire concept of a permit was for research, heck I already bought a license to hunt. Why is it that funding for research is less than $100,000 on a market that brings in to Maine over 30 million dollars each year. This is not wise use of funds and really is taxation without that representation we talk of.

Feeding Bears

How to I get rid of these bears. Simple move the bird feeder. Bears love bird seed. In fact seeds and nuts are part of a bears primary diet. This time of year, well before the beechnut crop, your feeder is a great source of high protein for mom and cubs. Feeding bears can lead to a lot of problems. I really can't stress the importance of removing the feeders if bears show up. By the way it is really not a good idea to be feeding birds this time of year anyways.

Study Areas

Our Chief Bear Biologist, the most respected bear man in the United States is Randy Cross. He has been working and studying bear for over thirty years. Not much gets by this boy. Quickly the state has an ongoing bear research program. There are three study areas where female bears are caught in the spring, fitted with radio collars and monitored through out the year. In the winter a den study is completed to review birth rates and information about the bears. Study areas include a cross section of Maine, from different lands, soils and feed. There is a Northern Study area outside of Ashland, another near Bradford and a fairly new one downeast near Westly. The number of collared females varies, from 15-25 in each area. The information gained is critical in maintaining our bear population.