Terribly UnBearable!
To the Editor:
Much concern has been prompted over bear attacks here in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. While we have always had bears here, there has been no natural development of our bear populations here, as bears have been shipped in from more populated regions and deposited here. They don’t want to hear that we’ve hit our quota and we’re “All Filled Up!”. And that’s where the problem lies! Our trash cans are tipped, our homes are threatened, our crops have been destroyed, beehives plundered, pets and folks have been attacked, to name a few issues. Few of us know how to manage a bear’s visit.
Many of our citizens have called for an open hunting season on bear. But, really, few of us covet bearskin rugs, or enjoy the meat. It’s tough, gamey and quite greasy. Not many chefs are up to that challenge. So we kill for what? Is it the joy of killing another living creature? The second option is to ship them out, which makes us no better than those who shipped them to us in the first place.
Each year a new batch of cubs is born. When times are tough, a normal birth is a set of twins. When food is plentiful and the winters are gentle, triplets are more often the case. Births are often prompted by the January Chinook (warming spell, usually in mid-January). Birth season can run into February. The cubs are tiny, weighing as little as two pounds at birth. Our EPA folks have collared a good many bears and located their dens. They grab the little ones, weigh them in, inject tracking chips, usually, in their ears, and replace them along side their mamas, who, in the deep sleep of hibernation, are not roused in the least. Is there a plan to neuter some of these cubs to help lower populations?
While this action may not guarantee a cessation of human interaction with bears, it might certainly help to manage the bear population in a situation where there are few predators to control overpopulation. We could also try to manage the disposal of edibles, nixing bird feeders to keep bears from wandering onto our properties. However, I’d still give a bear claw to the one who can tell me just how to keep the bears out of my garden and fruit trees, and away from my hives. Due to their thick hides even electric fences seem not to dissuade their foraging.
