Avoiding bear problems

As more people are in the area for the summer, enjoying being on the river or camping in the forest, there also seem to be more bears around. In reality, the number of bears does not increase during the summer—but the number of opportunities to get a free meal does, so bears are making their presence more obvious.

Bears are sexually dimorphic, which means that one sex, the males in this case, are bigger than the other. According to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) data, male bears average 300 pounds while females average 170 pounds. Bears usually shy away from human contact, but if a female has cubs present, she will defend them; behavior such as jaw snapping and bluff charges serve as a warning to any interlopers to beat a hasty retreat.

Bears are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders; they will get into unsecured trash cans or dumpsters and scatter debris all over the area. Bears also have a taste for birdseed, and will climb trees to get at feeders.

Having bear-accessible food present, whether intentional or unintentional, will cause problems when the bears learn that food is obtainable from human sources. Bears that are fed become bold and aggressive, and bear damage to homes and other structures is not uncommon in these situations.

When it comes to bears, securing trash containers and bear-proofing access to any food sources will benefit both bear and humans. A good source of bear related information can be found from the DEC at dec.ny.gov/animals/6960.html