Published: June 06, 2008 11:48 am      

Bear makes a visit

Friends who bring over pies are pleasant surprises. The guy up the street who borrows your wheelbarrow generally brings it back. And even nosy neighbors are somewhat expected and tolerated.

But what happens when a hungry stranger with claws, big teeth and an appetite for everything from dog food to trash comes strolling into your yard…?

This was exactly the scenario earlier this week in the Big Woods area of Rowan County. Tim Sargent of Paris Lane eased out of his front door with his camera to snap photos of a black bear that ambled around the family home, Wednesday afternoon.

“My dog was barking pretty good so I looked out the window to see the direction he was barking,” Sargent told The Morehead News. “There it was, standing there about 75 feet from our house.

“I got outside with the camera then hollered at him, he stood up on his back legs and started sniffing the air – I hollered at him again and then he just walked off. He didn’t run – my neighbor said they’d seen a bear earlier in the day.”

Other reports of bear sightings near Maxie Flats drew a Lexington television news film crew to the area on Tuesday of this week.

“We’ve been here 12 years and never saw one,” Sargent said of the clawed visitor. “When he stood up, that’s when I realized he could come on over to us so I went back in – I wasn’t about to go over and try to hand feed him or anything!”

Sargent said he and his family do need keep any garbage near the house because of past concerns over raccoons. He said he wasn’t sure why the bear ventured so close.

“I was just shocked to see it,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it was a bear, then I remembered to grab the camera.”

This local incident happened just days after the local media received the following press release from Kentucky Fish & Wildlife:

Now is a key time to prevent human-bear conflicts in eastern Kentucky. Bears that emerged from dens with their cubs and yearlings in April are now becoming active.

“Their metabolisms have sped back up and they are looking for food,” said Steven Dobey, black bear biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Bears in general are trying to put on weight and the mothers, in particular, need to produce milk for their cubs and find food.”

A bear’s natural food sources, such as berries and other forage, are scarce in the springtime and early summer. Unfortunately, some of the most easily available foods at this time of year come from humans. Pet food left outside, food scraps thrown in yards and open dumpsters quickly teach bears to associate people with food. This unsafe situation creates nuisance bears as adults pass this behavior on to their cubs.

“Black bear cubs depend entirely on their mother the first year of their life to learn survival skills,” said Dobey. “So when they see her going into neighborhoods, getting into garbage, getting into pet food and taking handouts, they remember that. They’ll exhibit those behaviors the following year when they are out on their own.”

Preventing current and future nuisance bears is simple: don’t feed bears. Wild bears do not need human help for survival – even though some food is scarce, there is still enough natural food for bears to eat. Even more importantly, without human interference they will teach their cubs to find natural food sources and not to associate people with food.

“Put your garbage out the morning of pick-up – not the night before,” said Dobey. “Feed outside pets only enough for one meal at a time, and don’t store pet food outside. Bears will find it.

“Open dumpsters, especially, are a training ground for nuisance bears,” Dobey continued. “Whether in a neighborhood, in an apartment complex or on a mine, dumpsters are a buffet table for bears. Bears come and go as they please, become conditioned to people and then exhibit the same behavior in neighborhoods.”

Feeding bears – either directly or indirectly – is against the law in Kentucky. It can result in fines up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail. Creating nuisance bears can also result in a bear’s death. If a nuisance bear creates a dangerous situation for humans, wildlife managers may kill the bear to ensure public safety.