According to Dr. Lynn Rogers, any one of us has a better chance of winning the lottery than we have of being harmed by a black bear. And he should know. Rogers has been studying black bears for more than 40 years, and has formed the BEAR Group, which stands for Bear Education and Resources.
The BEAR Group presented a program at Camp Jefferson on Wednesday night, and told residents how they can learn to live in harmony with bears.
The most important thing that residents should remember about keeping bears at bay is to eliminate the food source that they crave.
According to BEAR Group literature, residents should keep garbage indoors or well secured until just prior to pickup, and use bear resistant garbage cans.
Once a bear knows it will get handouts, he will keep coming back for more, she added.
If you see a bear, you should yell, stomp on the ground, wave your arms and back away slowly.
The bear is more afraid of you than you are of it, according to the group’s literature. But it is important to remember never to corner a bear and always allow it an “escape route.”
When a bear feels threatened, it may charge at a person, but then stop short and either slap the ground or snort. This is a normal form of bear communication. Bears may also flatten their ears against their heads, make huffing noises or clack their jaws together.
Hikers are encouraged to carry air horns and pepper spray to ward off bears.
The BEAR Group also advocates aversive conditioning, which teaches bears that they “interacting with humans will result in harassment. They will quickly learn to associate these ‘off-limit’ locations with ‘punishment’ and will retreat to the woods and swamps where they belong,” BEAR Group literature says.
Aversive conditioning tools include Supersoaker Water Guns, air horns, pepper spray, a garden hose or a pop-open umbrella.
Jill Lindsey
3:31 pm on Thursday, April 21, 2011
FANTASTIC article!! Thank You!!
Beachbum
3:55 pm on Thursday, April 21, 2011
It's important to teach your children these rules too. One thing that was not mentioned was to never look a bear directly in the eye. They consider this a challenge.
Sue Toth
8:33 am on Friday, April 22, 2011
Thanks Beachbum, that's very true. It makes us very happy when the Patch community helps one another out with advice like this. Thanks again! Have a great weekend!
John
11:02 am on Friday, April 22, 2011
Hunting is especially useful in adversive conditioning and keeping bear populations in line with available woodland space. Black bears are territorial, so as the population expands they migrate and in densely populated states like NJ they will interact with the living space of humans. That's why we see on the news black bears by the NJ Turnpike, living under porches or decks, breaking into homes for food, walking through cities, etc. Although black bears prefer to stay away from people it should be told that more than 50 people have been killed by them sinc ethe early 1900s. Just this week it was reported that a black bear that attacked a 53-year-old woman outside her home in the Catskill Mountains. People should also know that although the Bear Group may be helpful, it operated by animal rights activists, they are not professionals.
Krysia Dour
11:51 am on Friday, April 22, 2011
Thanks for the great tips. A tip I heard of long ago is that if you are being pursued by a bear in an urban or residential area, to slip under a parked car and call for help since a bear will not likely fit under a car. I wonder if anyone has ever had to resort to that?
A question: pop-up umbrella? Is it the motion or sound that distracts the bear?