Comments on: Bears Oh My

By: Black Bear Struck and Killed On I 85 In Orange County : Moose Droppings

Black Bear Struck and Killed On I 85 In Orange County : Moose Droppings — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:15:17 +0000

[...] killed on I 85 in Orange County which is a bit unusual but not unheard of. What has become almost an annual event with a black bear moving through the triangle in the spring and summer appears to have happened [...]

By: Tom Sorenson

Tom Sorenson — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:44:20 +0000

This is a prickly situation, isn’t it? Bears (and other predators) in urban areas are coming more and more common – and is just a recipe for bad news.

As for judging a bear – that’s dang near impossible! The bear my brother shot this year, we estimated at 150 pounds, but have no clue how close we were. It was a small sow that must have been on her first year by herself. We saw three bears this season and couldn’t tell if any one bear was bigger than the others.

By: Moose

Moose — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:14:08 +0000

Thanks C for your comment. Certainly if your children are in danger I have no issue with a person taking steps to protect them. With that being said if the kids are in the house or otherwise out of harms way I feel pretty confident in saying that an individual will be in a heap of trouble for shooting a bear in an urban area. Just having an understanding or knowledge of safely handling a gun is not enough. Killing a bear instantly with a rifle is not an easy task and in my experience it is not unusual for a bear to cover a hundred or more yards after being lethally shot. In the wilderness this is not a big deal in an urban area it is huge and could put a lot of other people at risk.

Wildlife in urban areas is an issue I think we’ll see more and more problems as animal populations increase and urban sprawl continues. Most of the issues around here deal with foxes, raccoons, opossums, deer, etc. Bear problems are pretty rare and isolated for the most part to this time of the year. Coyotes are really taking off in the Raleigh Durham area are going to be a much bigger issue once they get use to people the danger to kids especially will be much greater then the bear.

I really think the question we need to have answered by the folks at the state that manager the bear is, Does the state plan to take any steps to control the areas where the bear repopulates or is the entire state open for bear re population?
-Moose-

By: C

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:23:33 +0000

“Walking through your yard is not enough provocation to kill a bear”

Maybe not your yard, and good for you. I have three small children who play outside. If there was a bear wandering through my yard for long enough to get my 30-06 out of the gun safe there would be one less bear in Durham.

And, yes, I understand how far a bullet goes.

-C