Being Black Bear Aware

[Janiece Meek]

Being Black Bear Aware
(from WNC Nature Center website, http://www.wildwnc.org/education/naturalists-notes/black-bear-aware)

Many people worry about having encounters with bears while they are hiking or camping. Living here in Asheville, we are likely to encounter bears in our neighborhood. If you do encounter a bear, do not feed it or get close to it. Back away slowly making a lot of noise and do not run. Never surround or corner the bear or bears. If you happen to be attacked by the bear, the National Park Service Black Bear Brochure advised to fight back as hard as you can with any object near you. Be as loud and intimidating as you can. They suggest that playing dead is not appropriate.

Bears in neighborhoods often become a problem because of human actions.

By following these tips every spring, summer and fall, you can avoid attracting bears to your property:

Garbage:
Eliminate odors by tying garbage bags closed and placing in containers that have tight fitting lids.
Frequently wash garbage cans and recycle containers with a strong smelling disinfectant

Bird/Pet Food:
Fill bird feeders only through the winter months or remove them when bears are active
Do not leave pet food or outdoors.Feed pets indoors, not outside or in screened in areas or porches

Fruits/Vegetables/Compost:
Avoid landscaping with trees, shrubs or plants that produce food known to attract bears (crab apple trees, mountain ash, beech and oak)
Do not put meat, fish or sweet food (including fruit) in your composter
Remove vegetables and fallen fruit from the ground
Pick all ripe fruit from trees and bushes

Smells:
Be aware that cooking odors can attract bears
Remove grease and food residue from barbecue grills,including the grease cup underneath, after each use.

Learn about bears, their needs and behavior. Share your knowledge with others. Encourage your neighbors and our community to practice Bear Wise habits. It takes everyone working together to keep bears away.

It is very important that we follow these rules because a bear that becomes reliant on human food and garbage becomes a problem bear. A problem bear quite often becomes a dead bear.

Bears are beautiful and exciting and represent to us the real idea of wildness. We can share our wild areas with these incredible animals by using safe practices such as mentioned above.



Ursus americanus, or the American Black Bear is unique to North America. They were here before the European settlers arrived. It is believed that Ursus abstrusus, its ancestor, wandered to North America during one of the early ice ages. They crossed the Bering bridge around 500,000 years ago (humans arrived only 50,00 years ago). The black bear had to compete with other species of bears for habitat so it prefers the forest habitat, unlike the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos, or brown bear) which prefers the more open habitats.

All bears walk plantigrade (walk on the soles of their feet) and have five toes with a curved, tough claw. Bears are considered the largest of the world’s carnivores and there are eight species of bears in the world. The American black bear inhabits only Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. Black bears appear to be somewhat large and ungraceful, but they are quite the contrary. Black bears have been clocked at running speeds of thirty miles per hour! These bears are very muscular and fast, so you probably could not out run one.

The sizes of black bears vary from 150 pounds to 600 pounds, although 800 pounds has been recorded. With all four feet on the ground, they stand two to three feet tall and five to six feet in length. They eat a variety of foods including berries, fruits, nuts, grasses, insects, meat, and even carrion. Newborn cubs rely on their mother’s milk for survival. Cubs are born in the den between December and February and weigh six to twelve ounces at birth. They do not open their eyes until about one month and do not begin to walk until two months of age.

Black bears in North Carolina dens in November or December in hollow trees, rock crevices, or piles of leaves. These denning bears can be aroused from their deep sleep quickly, which is not like a true hibernator. Their body temperature only drops about ten degrees and their heart rate and breathing only decline a little bit. True hibernators have a considerable drop in temperature, breathing, and heart rate. The black bear in North Carolina enters a state of dormancy or deep sleep.


For more information about bears, contact the Division of Wildlife Management/NC Wildlife Resources Commission, [phone], or The Appalachian Bear Center, [phone].

[Greg Lewis]

This is some good information, and just to add to it, anytime you see the bear, whether out you window or car window, yell at him and or blow the horn. If he continually feels uncomfortable in an area he will move on, especially if we remove the best food sources.