Bear Population Soars In Mountains So Does Conflicts

The Southern Appalachian Bear Study Group reports a record year for bears in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Frank Van Manen, research ecologist with the University of Tennessee and chairman of the study group, said one indication of the expanding population is that bears have moved out of the mountains into areas like Piedmont in North Carolina and northern Alabama that haven’t traditionally been identified as bear habitat.
“Wildlife agencies have been incredibly successful in their bear recovery efforts,” Van Manen said. “Now, perhaps we’re dealing with the aftermath of that, with black bears moving into areas they’ve never been, or haven’t been in decades.”

KnoxNews

Conflicts with bears have also increased which is not surprising. Reports of bears killing livestock like the sow with cubs that killed a flock of chickens this past summer or the bear this week that killed a llama that was guarding a flock of sheep are somewhat unusual.

Marian Sigmon said she was taking her cat out about 6:45 a.m. when she heard the llama scream in the pasture, where the 6-foot-tall animal was stationed as a guard animal for Shetland sheep.
Sigmon and her husband, Robert, were able to chase the bear away to the edge of the pasture on Jones Cove Road. The llama was euthanized because its injuries were so severe.

Citizens Times

Conflicts with humans will naturally increase as bears move into new areas or areas with higher concentrations of humans. While with some species carrying capacity of the land is important with bears it seems that the cultural capacity is paramount.

Van Manen said that while the region may be biologically capable of supporting even more bears, it’s clear that in some areas, the population has reached its cultural capacity as determined by people’s willingness to tolerate bears visiting their bird feeders or breaking into their homes.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will have to make some decisions as bear human conflicts increase.
I assume that part of tomorrow’s free lecture at NC Wildlife on Centennial Campus will cover that aspect of bear management. Educating humans about living in bear territory and those who now find themselves in bear territory can help but how much they’ll tolerate bears is just as important. Bears for the most part will avoid confrontations with humans but they are predators and will make the most of any opportunities they have. Fatal attacks on humans are rare but not unheard of.
I like bears and hope to see them continue to increase however in the more populated areas of the Piedmont and the Triangle I’m not sure it’s too good of an idea to see them in those parts of the state.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Colleen Offenbuttel will be presenting a free lecture on Black Bear Research and Management in North Carolina this month. The lecture will be held on Wednesday the 14th of October at the Centennial Campus at 4pm.

Tree Full of Bears In Rockingham County A Publicity Stunt?

What some might think for a second as a publicity stunt was probably just a bit of lucky timing as a sow and three cubs showed up only days after NCWRC announced the next free wildlife lecture. “Black Bear Research and Management in North Carolina: 1970s Through the Present”. Bears are expanding their range in the state and how is North Carolina going to deal with the increase bear human conflicts that will certainly rise as well?

 

This video from Fox 8 certainly will give you a taste of the conflict as people remain in the area keeping the bears treed.

Part of me thinks NCWRC bigger job will be managing people not so much the bears.

Want to Learn About Bears & Bear Management in North Carolina?

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Colleen Offenbuttel will be presenting a free lecture on Black Bear Research and Management in North Carolina this month. The lecture will be held on Wednesday the 14th of October at the Centennial Campus at 4pm.

“Black Bear Research and Management in North Carolina: 1970s Through the Present” will examine the modern era of black bear management. Olfenbuttel will discuss projects and cooperative agreements with various universities, including N.C. State University; research on the demographics of the bear population and how monitoring efforts provide a basis for making sound management decisions; and adopting regulations to benefit bear populations and habitats.

North Carolina has bears mostly concentrated in the west and the eastern part of the state but bears are apt to pop up almost anywhere in the state as the population expands. The bears in eastern North Carolina can grow to some massive sizes as you can see by the photo I posted. Earlier this summer I talked with Mike Noles of Conman’s Guide Service and as far as he knows this bear Maximus is still walking around. Mike offers stand hunts for bears but the most common method for hunting bears down east is with hounds.
As the human population expands and the bear population does as well what will NCWRC response be to deal with the conflicts that will arise. We’ve already seen some issues in the mountains, the Piedmont, and right here in the triangle.

The Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education is located at 1751 Varsity Drive, Raleigh.

The Art of Calling Geese

This evening I got to watch a master goose caller call a small flock of geese right in. I suspect this caller couldn’t win any of those fancy calling contests but it was a delight to watch and listen as he called. I saw him sitting there all by himself which is a bit unusual and he appeared to be sound asleep with his head resting on his back. I observed him for a number of minutes as I worked my way closer to him trying not to disturb his nap. All of a sudden he popped up wide awake and alert at first I was afraid that I had encroached on him too much and disturbed him but that was only a fleeting thought as he began to call.

I soon heard the small flock calling back to him but the trees hid them from my view. As they cleared over
the trees and began to circle I wondered if they would drop in or if my presence would keep them away. He kept calling and they kept responding and circling and finally one of them could not help and it began to drop towards him. The flow of air through the wings sounded like the wind on a sailboat jib as the goose flew over my head and dropped right in.

A few more came in and the rest followed. What a beautiful sight as they splashed the water when the landed. At first I thought they had a couple of snow geese with them but it appears they are domestic geese gone wild.

I marveled at the ability of a lone goose to call a flock a trick I’ve attempted to do myself a time or two without much luck. I too will never win one of those calling contest but I did see that one can call the flock in if you’re persistent. Get out and experience nature you can learn some valuable lessons as well as relax and rejuvenate your soul.

Build It They Will Come? Ospray Nesting Plateforms Erected At Lake James

Osprey I Photographed In Yellowstone

The Osprey, or the fish hawk is an interesting creature to watch as it snatches fish out of the water. North Carolinian’s may have some added places to observe Osprey’s if the nesting platforms work.

four osprey nesting platforms were erected on Lake James as part of an ongoing effort by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) to help conserve and improve the osprey populations within the Catawba River basin.

The current population of osprey has migrated to South America for the winter but when they return, they will have their pick of the newest lake front property built just for them. The platforms are made of metal and attached to 45- foot poles that Lancaster Dock (www.lancasterdock.com) erected with their barge.

The initial four osprey nest sites are adjacent to islands and state park lands offering good observation vantage points for lake users while providing the osprey safe refuge from predators such as raccoons and black snakes.

Citizens Times

My first encounter with an Osprey was while I was in College in Massachusetts, a buddy and I were fishing in a remote pond where unknown to us a pair had taken up nesting in the area. The first time one of those Osprey’s dove in to grab a fish it startled both Brian and I and we are lucky that we didn’t flip the canoe. I don’t remember if we caught much but we had a lot of fun watching those birds fish.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has an interesting fact sheet on the Osprey.

Back To The Wild… Cubs Will Wake Up This Spring In The Wild

Montana Fish & Wildlife has a program to rescue orphaned bear cubs and reintroduce them into the wild once they have a reasonable chance to survive.

Each year, a number of orphaned black bear cubs end up at FWP’s Wildlife Center in Helena. The bear cubs arrive anytime between spring and late fall during their first year of life. They have all been separated from their mothers (sows) for various reasons including:

* Sows killed by cars
* Sows illegally shot
* Cubs area abandoned by mothers because of poor environmental conditions, food shortage, or human disturbance

Orphaned bear cubs raised in captivity in Montana will be moved into man made bear dens in the wild soon so that when they wake up from hibernation this spring they’ll be in the backcountry. Then hopefully they’ll go on and live like all the other bears that were raised by a bear and not Montana wildlife.

“Our mission is to provide a temporary place for injured and orphaned animals so they can be returned to the wild. Our emphasis is definitely on orphaned bear cubs,” said Patty Sowka, director of the rehab center.

All of the cubs were born in January or February and all orphaned. They will be placed back in the wild sometime in December.

Montana Fish & Wildlife has a rehabilitation center that has been operating this program for a number of years as an alternative to euthanizing the orphaned cub and they have had some good success. Their studies show that bear cubs in their program have a 44% survival rate for their first year compared to cubs raised by sows in the wild that have a 37% survival rate.

Montana Wildlife reports that they discovered a sow that went through their program raising cubs on her own;

Success Story
In the fall of 2004, the Montana Wildlife Center received a sighting of a bear and her cubs, the sow had a conspicuous green ear tag. Staff at the center researched the bear’s tag number and found that it was a female raised at the center over six years ago. She had no record of human disturbance and had obviously proven herself to be successful in the wild. Though we will never be able to know exactly what happens to the cubs once they are released, stories like this one make us realize that efforts to return orphaned bear cubs to the wild is worth it, one bear at a time.

How many bears have they rescued?

Sowka says that since 2000, the center has taken in approximately 196 bears, 9 of which were grizzlies that ultimately were placed in captivity. Two black bears were also placed into facilities.

There plan is that once a bear is put back in the wild that they never see it again. They tag them so they can track any future encounters they may have. How many they have reintroduced that became “problem bears” ?

“The only bears we find out about are the hunter harvested, the management removals and the road-killed bears. We know that three or four of the 34 that we just put out in the spring earlier this year have been legally harvested in good situations. They were not removed because of conflicts; they were being good bears in good areas and legally harvested this year from last year. They were going on two years old.

“We have very few management removals. Those are the ones we mostly are concerned about. In entire history of the program — we can safely say 10 at the most that Im aware of.

This sounds like a great program giving opportunity to return the majestic bear back to the wild rather then destroying it or placing it in captivity.

Resources for this story

Great Falls Tribune
Montana Fish & Wildlife

Post & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Bruiser Bruins In the Old North State

If you wanted to kill a bear that tipped the scale in access of 600 lbs where would you head? Now I’m talking about a black bear not a brown or a grizzly so that narrows your choices downs a bit. North Carolina should be at the top of your list and eastern North Carolina to be more specific. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has done a phenomenal job at managing the black bear. The eastern part of the state of North Carolina has some of the best bear habitat anywhere and the bear population is booming there and the photos I have to show you will prove we have some monsters walking around.

This bear is being called “Maximus” and rightly so when you look at these photos. I acquired these photos from Mike Noles owner of Conman’s Guide Service. I’ll admit that judging the size of bears can be difficult but this bear is huge. This bear will easily go over 600 lbs and Mike believes it is in the 800+ neighborhood and he sees a lot more bears then I do. I wonder if we might not be looking at a new state record if not possible one of the largest black bears ever. Heavens know how big Maximus will be by the time the hunting season rolls around.

Bear hunting in North Carolina is either done by two methods; stand hunting like Mike does, or hunting them with hounds. Baiting is not a legal practice in this state. When I talked with Mike this past Friday he still had a couple of openings for this November’s bear hunt. If you think this bear is some kind of a fluke check this photo of another bear that was photographed last summer.

This is obviously a different bear because of the scarring on the face and none of their hunters took this bear last year.

Two years ago a couple of 600 plus bears were taken just a day apart at Conman’s so he certainly has the habitat to grow’em big.

Jim Delpapa – 11/13/06 – 663 lbs

Charles Miller – 11/14/06 – 616 lbs

If you want to bust a big bruin head for eastern North Carolina and if you want someone with a proven record for putting folks on some nice ones give Mike Noles a call.

Story by Dan McLaughlin (AKA Moose) Photos courtesy of Conman’s Guide Service Creswell, NC

Teach A wolf to Fish….

Tom over at the Black Bear Blog has an interesting story and a series of photographs of a wolf catching salmon. Not an activity that many of us would imagine a wolf doing but it appears to be a true story. I’ve discovered a few newspaper accounts from 2007 and a video of the wolf fishing.
[quote]A wolf vying for salmon along with the oft-photographed Brooks bears was startling enough that more than a few photographers thought the pictures might be computer-enhanced composites. Stinsa heard such comments, too.

“The photos are not doctored in any way,” he said last week.

They were cropped, he said, and some spots with bad light were highlighted. Other than that, they are 100 percent as they appeared in the viewfinder of his camera, he said.

And he has Park Service employee Niki Quester as a witness.

“She said she’d never seen anything like this,” Stinsa said. [/quote]

The Seattle Times has the story as well as the Anchorage Daily News has the actual video. So I would say based on this it’s true Tom wolves do like to fish and it wasn’t photo shopped.

Back From My Tundra Swan Hunt

A successful hunt and a great trip to Washington County NC but its good to be back home. It was a bit hectic leading up to last Thursday when I left for Washington County but I soon felt relaxed as I sat in a muddy ditch on Friday morning in full camo watching tundra swan circling the decoys.
This morning I didn’t even have my gun opting for the camera and the opportunity to see a young person bag her first swan. But that is another story that I’ll post latter.
Friday afternoon Billy, Nicole, and I bagged our swans as we slipped back into the field after lunch. Tundra Swan unlike many of the other waterfowl seems to fly best on blue bird type days. They also fly all day so hunts are not necessarily limited to the hours around sunrise and sunset.
We went back into the field around 1:30 and we each had our bird by 3pm. The field we were hunting was an old corn field that had been reseeded in winter wheat. The tender wheat as well as the old corn is a tempting meal to the swans. The land is very flat so it is easy to spot the places the birds are working because once a few hit the field it attracts even more in. We saw fields with thousands of birds in them so the decoy spread of a couple hundred goose decoys painted white lured these birds in.

In the coming days I’ll share some of my photos on both of my blogs and post additional stories about hunts I photographed on Saturday and Monday before I returned home. It’s good to be back home and maybe I can stay ahead of the chaos.

Thanks to Mike, Connie, & Andy at Conman’s Guide Service for a great time.

The Magic of the Tundra Swan Migration

This time of year the tundra swan returns to the wintering grounds here in North Carolina along the coast and it is a sight to behold. The whole concept of how a creature can fly from Canada and Alaska every year and back is a pretty amazing feat when you think about it. I had heard from some folks in that part of the state that the swans were beginning to return with some numbers this past week and so I felt an urge this past Sunday to take a ride that direction to have a look. I think part of my fascination with the swan is the haunting call it makes and the similarities of the call with that of the loon we listened to often on summer nights in New England.

We rode down to Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and I got some great photographs and took in the sights and sounds of the birds returning to their wintering grounds. I’m running a lot of the photos I took on Mooses Wild America this week so be sure to check them out as well.

There is an opportunity for schools in the area of the wintering grounds to get involved in research on the Tundra Swan that is being conducted by Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park. They are looking for assistance with banding and tracking tundra swan along their migration route.

Sylvan Heights Director of Education Dan Louk is excited about the opportunity the project presents to Valley youngsters. “This is a real-world research project they can not only observe, but also become involved in,” said Louk. He added there is still time and room for more schools to participate, but the window of opportunity is closing fast.

In addition to participating as a group at Sylvan Heights, Louk said the students will also keep in touch with other groups of students all along the migratory track from North Carolina to Alaska. “The students will actually exchange data that all can benefit and learn from. Since the birds winter almost exclusively in North Carolina, the students here will study the wintering behavior patterns which are very different from the behavior in the breeding grounds in Alaska, which will be studied and reported on by students there,” said Louk.

Roanoke Daily Herald

This sounds like a great opportunity for people interested in helping with research to get involved. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has been participating in researching the tundra swan for some time and has a fascinating website where you can learn about some of the research they have conducted. They have some migration studies they did back a few years ago and although it is no longer being up dated you can see the travel routes of many of the swans they banded and attached tracking devices to during that time. It’s certainly a site worth checking out if your like me and just a little bit fascinated by the distances these creatures fly each year.

I’ll be doing my part to help with the research on these birds when I participate in the hunting aspect. As one of the limited 5,000 permits drawn this year I’ll complete a survey after my hunt reporting what type of bird I took and answer a few other questions. In addition to that should I or any other hunter take a banded bird there is a reporting mechanism for that to help get the information to researchers so they are aware that a banded bird has been taken.

Within the waterfowl hunting community there is an honor in taking a banded bird and often you’ll see hunters with bands attached to their duck calls. As hunters we realize the important role we play in the conservation of the specie as well as the protection of the habitat that allows these birds to flourish.

The tundra swan is a magnificent creature and if you get the chance you should make a point of visiting Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge this winter and see them.

We Got Hogs This Week On The Radio Show

Andrew & his roommate “diehardhunter” with a 317lb feral hog

Feral hogs have been in North Carolina for a number of years but now their numbers are growing and to many they are a nuisance. On this week’s show I interview Andrew Partin a student at NC State University in the Fisheries and wildlife program and a hog hunter. Andrew and his roommate recently killed this big hog and another smaller one that were tearing up a farmer’s sweet potato crop. In addition to hearing about his hunting Andrew will tell us a little about his summer job working in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park trapping bears and wild boars. So tune in today at 1pm or check out my show archives later this weekend to download this exciting show.

Last Minute Goose Hunt Leads to A Black Cloud

I haven’t done much hunting this year but a invite for a goose hunt this past Saturday sounded like the perfect way to ease myself back into hunting. Normally I’ve bought and stock up on steel shot so these last minute deals are not a big deal but I hadn’t done that yet. Friday evening I found myself wandering into the local Dicks Sporting Goods to pick up some shot. I began to panic a bit when I realized that the selection of steel shot was a bit slim and the largest shot I could find in my favorite brand was #2. Not really enough to goose hunt, BBB’s or T’s is what I usually want. Well as I’m searching around I see the new Federal Black Cloud and they have a couple of boxes of BBB’s so I grabbed them.

I’ve certainly heard the hype about these shells but not one to jump into that I had no real intention of trying them out. Daybreak found me in my layout blind in a cow pasture with my gun loaded with Black Cloud Shells. Well the geese certainly didn’t fly in like we had hoped by we did squeeze out a few. My initial thoughts about this product are that what I thought was hype is really the truth.
Federal has taken the science and technology to improve turkey loads and now using them in waterfowl loads. I certainly want to shoot some more with this product to really run it through its paces but so far it looks real good. I may have to pick up some duck loads as well to see how it works on them as well.

The view from my blind at daybreak

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