Keep Your Eyes Open for Bears

A new family moved into the CSA environs just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. A single mother with toddler twins, the “fam” has made its presence known in a very un-CSA manner, trespassing and even stealing bird feeders.

 

You guessed it, a sow bear with this year’s cubs have been seen on both Ness Road and Golf Lane in the past few days. She is pretty big for a female black bear and has her paws full tending to her two frisky, inquisitive cubs. The family probably left the den 6 or 7 weeks ago, and the cubs are slowly but steadily transitioning from nursing to solid foods. As the woods green up, more and more natural foods appear on the buffet in the form of wild leeks, grasses, wild strawberries and other succulent plants.

 

Feeding a family of three is a full-time job, and a sow with cubs will be much more active during daylight hours than a big, mature boar, which prefers dusk to dawn activity. Black bear biology stipulates a strict separation of duties between males and females…the male plays no role in rearing the cubs and is even known to occasionally prey upon cubs.

 

With all of the above in mind, it pays for each of us to be aware of our surroundings while we seasonally inhabit the home of these remarkable omnivores. Sows are very defensive of their cubs, especially if a potential threat (a human, for example), stumbles into their midst. The first line of defense for a sow bear is to quickly and quietly vanish, cubs in tow, usually before the intruding human is aware of the presence of the bears. If surprised, a sow will often bark at the cubs to alert them, and the cubs’ primary defense is to climb nearby trees, with astonishing speed. The sow may climb a tree as well or stand her ground until the threat is gone. In the rarest of scenarios, she may growl, bark, pop her jaws and make a false charge to get the intruder’s attention. An outright attack is a very, very rare occurrence.

 

What to do? Walking the woods, solo and in groups, is the most natural pastime for many of us. The natural presence of bears is part of nature’s bounty, for us to enjoy and be exhilarated by. Our best coping mechanism is toLunch! pay attention to our surroundings. Leave your earbuds and music behind, put away your screen, and walk, listen and watch your way through the splendid natural wonders around you.

 

If you have an encounter with a bear that doesn’t immediately flee, stand tall, raise your arms and make a lot of noise. Bears, like humans, do not like surprises, and the earlier you can make a bear aware of your presence, the more time that animal has to flee the scene.

 

And, by the way, under no circumstances should anyone feed bears, intentionally or otherwise. Michigan bears learn at a young age that garbage bags, garbage bins and coolers are never-ending, always-surprising, sources of food. Don’t put garbage out until the morning of pick-up…period. Repeat after me – “I promise not to put out my garbage until the morning of the day of pick-up.” Thank you.