Da Bears…..

OK… this isnt a fishing post… but some might find it interesting.. when I moved up here I had no idea how many bears there are in the area… I live near trollhagen ski resort, just a few short miles from the croix…. and Ive been “plagued” by bears every since I got here… they LOVE to tear apart bird feeders… and the latest one they tore apart I just took the tray and nailed it to a couple of saw horses I had outside… not very scenic to be sure… but a guys got to have priorities (fishing)…..

anyway… not long ago I encountered a really BIG bear at night when I was out giving the dogs their “walk”… this big boy came out of the dark following one of my dogs who was barking at him like crazy… I saw something BIG in the blackness (try seeing a black bear at night sometime!)… couldnt really make it out… I took the dogs in and got the spotlight…. *whew*… one BIG bear… a local hunter has seen this BIG one and estimates it around 600#….. now… THIS bear I have the pic of must be one of his kids… cuz its just past being a cub!… but thought you might want to see it anyway….. Ive been told there are 5-6 different bears in my neighborhood, sounds right… I see sign all the time….

Man, he’s (she’s) cute! You are lucky to live where you do!

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I see sign all the time….

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Is the sign you see the kind that sticks really well to the bottom of your shoes accompanied by a foul aroma?

That is a great pic by the way. keep ’em comin’. I’d like to see some pics of the ‘big one’ if you get them.

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Man, he’s (she’s) cute! You are lucky to live where you do!

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Seeing them from inside the house is one thing…………but seeing them in the wild…………….I dunno………….maybe it’s just me but there’s a real nervous adrenalin that floods through you. We have plenty of bears around the family cabin too and they usually don’t bother us at all…………but there are times when contact is made and I’ve never gotten comfortable with their unpredictability. The most nerve racking is of course, young ones like the one pictured. Not much smaller than that and mom is usually still around and in that “discovery” age, they can be very fearful or ignorantly curious………..and it’s hard to tell what it’s going to be. I don’t worry about myself so much as I do thinking of my sons. The encounter could be much uglier for them. I agree, he’s lucky to be a “country boy”, but I care not for any frequency of the “visitor” pictured here. While the number of incidents vs encounters are very low in percentage, they still amount to a large enough number to take their reality sincerely.

Rivereyes……….buddy……….don’t turn into a recluse………….but be careful up there!! How many “mastuh’s” do ya think a “Pup” has got?

I dont often get the “sign” stuck to the bottom of my feet!… but I DO see that kind… but there are also tracks, and destroyed birdfeeders, bird baths knocked over, other things knocked around.. they can be real brats!.. this little guy has become a regular.. and was seen here yesterday… and that nailed down birdfeeder was knocked down today while we were away running errands… so unless our squirrels are getting mighty tough it was probably him again… daily visits are a bit much… might have to find something to discourage him…. like get off my lazy but and hang the feeder up where he cant get it…. if that big one catches him “poaching” I bet he is going to be one mighty sore little bear…..

Im going to TRY and get pix of the BIG one… I REALLY want those… he is really something… but you can bet Im not going to walk out on my deck and take them… hes NOT afraid… and that makes ME afraid!

i live all the way down here in prescott and bear sightings are becoming more common. there was even one sighted in town about a year ago and a friend of mine lives not to far out of town and saw one not to long ago. i have also heard about several sightings in river falls near the kinnikinick river.

This was in the local fishwrap this morning. I know a few guys in Dresbach MN where I live that have seen Bear within a mile of my house.

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2003/07/02/news/03bear.txt

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i live all the way down here in prescott and bear sightings are becoming more common. there was even one sighted in town about a year ago and a friend of mine lives not to far out of town and saw one not to long ago. i have also heard about several sightings in river falls near the kinnikinick river.

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I remember seeing a news broadcast last summer/fall talking about the booming MN bear population. One of the key concerns was not enough hunters to regulate the population. In that same report, they mentioned that the WI DNR was also looking into this issue as it’s numbers were steadily increasing as well. More bears…………….more sightings.

Rivereyes, have you got any berry patches near you? We have them all around the family cabin, but at some distance. They’re very large patches and they seem to control the whereabouts of the bears pretty well. They really start venturing around the cabin and our neighbors establishments as the berries get thin and die to close another season. But when there’s berries, they stay real close to the patches. They also seem to like them for the amount of cover they provide and will just hang out in them pre-berry season through peak season. Water, berries, and cover………………far enough away from our immediate stomping grounds seems to minimize our encounter ratios.

Try the old can of bacon grease, heavily mixed with Chili powder…………..works on detering coons………….maybe bears too?

all I know is there are getting to be lots more encounters… and with this BIG boar we have up here it may be just a matter of time before someone runs into some trouble… there are kids camping in their back yards…. no doubt with food right in the tent… afterall this is NOT wilderness here so bears have never been a prime concern… but thats changing now.. the more bears, the more encounters with people and sooner or later yikes maybe real problems…. I have a link to a picture of a man that was killed and partly eaten by a black bear in Idaho last year…. I would post it… but its very very graphic and maybe not the sort of thing that everyone on the site should view….. if you really want to see it, PM me and I will send it …….
apparently a large boar attacked this hiker and he tried the old play dead scenario… problem is that your only supposed to do that with a mom and cubs or a grizzly thats protecting a kill… but NOT a boar thats out looking for food… they look at something dead or injured as a food source.. so this bear started eating the guy while he was still alive….
oh…. and Ive removed the berry patches from my land with a brush whacker…. and chopped up the dead falls too… I dont need a bear living right on my land…. but the woods are full of rasberries… and we are surrounded by hundreds and probably thousands of acres of woods, swamps, lakes…. its a fairly rough and wild area….

Good move…………..In spite of the convenience of having fresh wild berries to top off a bowl of cereal or ice cream or any other favorite dessert, I wouldn’t want to invite the company I know it would……….and does!

Have you spoken to any of your neighbors about their feelings or discussed any deterence strategies with them? It’d take some years to develop but the “environmentally friendly” thing to do is create a spot well away from the community and let that develop into their little haven. In spite of their territorial natures, black bears are pretty tolerant if the food is in good supply. Granted, you’d still want to be watching your numbers…………..too many is too many!

I’ve read that you’re supposed to stand your ground with black bears and if they charge anyway, you’re supposed to fight like the dickens, often aiming for direct hits on the nose. Easier said than done!!! But if in that situation, I’d also be trying for all I was worth to be grabbing anything and everything I could possibly shove into that bear’s mouth. Unwanted materials in the mouth of any creature will serve as a distractant and on the forest floor, there’s an abundance of sticks, plants, leaves, dirt…………ever get dirt shoved in your mouth? You have to get it out!!! Not mention a good spray in the eyes sucks too. Anyway, whatever it takes to convince that bear that it’s not having you for dinner, and your not worth the hassle of trying to force the issue! Mental preparation, if there’s a chance, is EVERYTHING. You WILL get hurt. You WILL get banged up. But you CAN survive!

And use your head when the kids are with. A gun is certainly encouraged for purposes I don’t need explain. Keep them in sight and always to your side(s). When venturing to a destination, this provides the illiusion of more people than it believes it can deal with. Animals don’t count, they just notice multiples and would rather avoid a “pack”.

I think you should really look into getting some deterrant strategies going though…………..your neighbors too. They just don’t mix well with our kind!

your right about the numbers strategy… Ive read that bears never attack groups of people that number 3 or more…. and the fighting the bear aspect is probably appropriate except where a mother with cubs is concerned… she will fight as long as she thinks you are a threat… in cases like that often if you play dead the mom goes right back to her cubs… just make sure you dont move for a while cuz she WILL have her eyes on you….. and will be right back at the first sign of life…..
for the most part bears are not aggressive… like you say… if they are well fed they are pretty content…. but the trick is you never really know.. they are wild animals and are unpredictable…. and they are powerful enough to mess you up good…. and kill you if they are persistant in their attack…..

i would try slow-cooking him in a crockpot…. they taste most excellent. if they are starting to become a problem call the dnr.. they take care of nuisance bears. good luck.

actually I did call the DNR… they say take down your bird feeders and any other source of food…. and the bears will leave you alone… this is NOT true… the bears have learned that houses are a source of food and they will check every house on their beat… they check out anything and everything hanging….. plants, wind chimes, hammocks…. anything…… so even if you have NO food outside the bears WILL be by… just to make sure….. they are eternal optimists…..

Eternal opportunists as well. In recent years, with all the problems New Mexico was having with all the bears breaking into houses, there was a lot of mention how houses themselves are going to attract bears, if they’re in the vicinity, if for nothing more than just “taking a look”. Why? Well, it was mentioned that even if your house is buttoned up good, the exhaust vent above your stove and any “through the door activity”, while something is being prepared, still sends a recognizable, resourceful scent to that curious little garbage disposal brain of theirs! They learn in the name of survival………..just like we do. Sooner or later, a house is likely to cough up something consumable!

HEY!! Why don’t you fence and feed the buggers, put up a few roadside signs, and charge a couple bucks a head to see “da bears”!

Good thinkin’, kid!

Yes, I have to say something. I know there aren’t supposed to be any grizlies outside of cages around here but if you’re not sure whether its a black or grizzly…after you climb up a tree to escape them, a black bear will climb up after you and a grizzly will just shake you out of the tree.

Seriously though, my parent’s live up in that your neck of the woods have have gone thru everything you have and more. And the DNR has been about as much help to them as they have to you. What has helped them some is bear hunting both with dogs and bait. It gives them a healthy fear of people again. My parents have problems with them eating dog food, bird seed, grass clover, flowers, just about anything that is an easy meal to fill their belly.

I live between Stacy and North Branch and have at least three bears ranging in my neighborhood. My neighbor and I have not been afraid to issue some warning shots with a twelve gauge-they don’t come around much anymore !

our “little” visitor continues to stop by in the afternoons…. my neighbor told me yesterday he bolts across their yard on his way to mine…… maybe the bears are coming to my place for the scenery? heres a sunset I shot off my deck the other day….. which is only feet from where the bears dine…. though its the racoons that usually take advantage of the sunset seating……

You took that picture from your dock? We gotta talk buddy! I mean, maybe it’s just me but don’t you think you should have less trees around your dock? Or is the water so high now that this is all the farther you can walk out towards the open water?

All kidding aside, I’ve seen how pretty it is off your dock……….err, I mean deck, and a sunset would only enhance it!

Have you had any cougars up your way yet? Just curious because they seem to get around…………and have seen one down my way once………….but it’s been a couple years since I’ve heard much hoopla regarding it so either it’s getting too common to report or they’ve moved out.

whats up dock? eeerr… deck? ummmm Im confused now!….
but nope… have seen no cougars… heard of no cougars…. and thats the way I like it… they are dangerous… much more so than bears….
ummm wait.. I take it back… Ive heard they have cougars at fawn-doe-rosa on hwy 8 in St Croix falls!… but then they have LOTS of different antimules there…..

There’s a living, breeding population in WI now but I don’t know what the numbers are. All known are being closely observed by the DNR………….or so they say! I know of sightings around Rice Lake, Roberts, Burkharte, Somerset, Spring Valley, and further south, Cannon Falls, MN.

I have seen with mine own eyes……….this antimule called a cougar……..and it was only about 100 yds away from my parents house! This was in 1989………..haven’t seen one since…………but have read about many other sightings since then. Oh………..and there have been no associations to escaped pets………..and least none to my knowledge. I have to wonder about that because my folk’s neighbors were raising lambs………….and were left undisturbed. A wild one would’ve gone after ’em sooner or later!

Last year there were 2 cougar sightings South of the Twin Cities in MN. One in New Ulm and the other was one that was killed in Burnsville, on the banks of the Minnesota river (for those who don’t know, Burnsville is a 3rd tier suburb of Minneapolis)

I saw reference to a continuing cougar investigation in New Ulm in the last Outdoor News, so they might still be having problems there.

I also seem to recall someone in Northern MN shooting a cougar on their front porch a year or two ago.

About 5 years ago there were 2 years worth of occasional sighting in Plymouth, MN (a 2nd ties suburb West of Mpls).

The MN DNR seems to be downplaying the cougar population, indicating that they are only passing through or are escaped captive/pet animals. With the Burnsville cougar, despite several reputable sightings, including one by a police officer, they continued to doubt the existance until it was photographed.

3-4 years ago in Hugo, MN (a few miles from my home) there were 5 sightings of a black cougar, including one by a sherrif’s deputy, and that one is still doubted offially by the DNR (though not by all of the COs ) I’d prefer they acknowlege the ‘maybe’ instead of denying the possibilities – human lives could hang in the balance.

– Rick

There is some old 19th century documentation that includes the mentioning of a WI black panther. Rare in numbers but extremely agile on tree limbs. Many claims are out there but there’s no substantial documentation (that I’ve ever been introduced to anyway) to really back it up. Kinda like the Elk……..once roamed nationwide, sea to shining sea………but there’s no pics of hunting camps with meatpoles filled with WI Elk. The best evidence we have is from the native Americans and it indicates little of numbers or commonness.