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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Apr 22, 2015 7:32:19 GMT -5
On second thought... heheh I like your second thought best.
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Post by hazelrunmama on Apr 22, 2015 21:11:13 GMT -5
Like you Hazel, watching through the windows is a good thing! Speaking of which... I forgot to bring the feeders in last night and this morning both shepherd's hooks were lying flat and the platform feeders were on the ground and empty. But the ground is so soggy and even a heavy raccoon could probably topple the poles and there was no damage other than the poles being down. The suet was untouched and the two little hopper feeders that were also on those poles still had seed in them. So all day we've been having a running discussion about whether it was coons or bears. Fast forward to tonight. I'd set an alarm for 8 pm to bring the feeders in. At about 10 7:50 pm, Grace starts barking madly out the french doors over the deck. Nothing down at the feeders, but I looked up to the road and there's a black bear standing at the gate to the easement road! So it's just a well-behaved bear, not a heavy raccoon. LOL Very fun to see it when it's not staring me in the face! Of course, if it's going to insist on coming before sunset, I'll have to take down the feeders for the summer, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Oh, and it looks like maybe a 3rd year bear--more than 200 lbs, but probably not more than 300. And so graceful! Hard to believe an animal that big and burly can move so effortlessly and smoothly!
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Apr 23, 2015 8:36:05 GMT -5
And so graceful! Hard to believe an animal that big and burly can move so effortlessly and smoothly! Scheesch! The bears could follow 'the rules' but no, there is always one adventurous one, likes going out before dark! You're right about their gracefulness and it is pretty amazing. They seem so fluid.
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Post by hutchgigi on Apr 23, 2015 23:33:56 GMT -5
Like you Hazel, watching through the windows is a good thing! Speaking of which... I forgot to bring the feeders in last night and this morning both shepherd's hooks were lying flat and the platform feeders were on the ground and empty. But the ground is so soggy and even a heavy raccoon could probably topple the poles and there was no damage other than the poles being down. The suet was untouched and the two little hopper feeders that were also on those poles still had seed in them. So all day we've been having a running discussion about whether it was coons or bears. Fast forward to tonight. I'd set an alarm for 8 pm to bring the feeders in. At about 10 7:50 pm, Grace starts barking madly out the french doors over the deck. Nothing down at the feeders, but I looked up to the road and there's a black bear standing at the gate to the easement road! So it's just a well-behaved bear, not a heavy raccoon. LOL Very fun to see it when it's not staring me in the face! Of course, if it's going to insist on coming before sunset, I'll have to take down the feeders for the summer, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Oh, and it looks like maybe a 3rd year bear--more than 200 lbs, but probably not more than 300. And so graceful! Hard to believe an animal that big and burly can move so effortlessly and smoothly!
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Post by hutchgigi on Apr 23, 2015 23:35:21 GMT -5
After reading about the bears on our sight i came across this in the NJ post of a friend. Ginny H
By MICHAEL FLYNN April 21, 2015 at 7:43 AM BOUND BROOK, NJ - The Somerset County Patriots have not changed their name to the bears. The bears that people have sighted in Somerset County the past few days do not play baseball, but have awakened from a cold winter's nap and should be considered dangerous.
Tuesday morning, the Bound Brook Police Department issued a Nixle alert warning residents to use caution in the Piedmont section of Bound Brook. The police asked residents in the area to use caution if going outdoors.
The Bound Brook sighting this morning comes after a black bear sighting on April 19 in a backyard on Christy Drive in Warren.
The bear population in New Jersey has been a growing debate as man versus bear confrontations have escalated over the past few years. Last year, an Edison resident was killed in a bear attack while hiking in West Milford New Jersey. Bears are not typically known for attacking humans, but they are wild animals and authorities warn against feeding bears and advise residents to use caution if a bear is in the area.
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Post by hazelrunmama on Apr 24, 2015 18:16:48 GMT -5
WI's bear population is increasing exponentially, too--just a few years ago it was estimated at about 8000, and then two years later it was estimated at 23000!! Probably more by now. But we'd be in bear territory, anyway, living out in the woods. We really don't have much of a conflict with them--if they raid the feeders, we bring the feeders in so as not to acclimate them to being close to humans and dogs, and by the end of the season, they've moved on. If we're lucky, we get to see them, like the one a couple days ago. For a long while we were seeing sign from a really large bear--back on the easement, I'd see huge prints in the sand. Big enough that I could easily fit my hand in the print from its heel to the claws--and my hand is 7 inches long. It lingered for the whole summer but I never saw anything but prints. I have to admit it made me a little nervous when I was birdwatching back there--the snap of every little twig would make me jump!
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Post by luv2bird on Apr 24, 2015 21:25:48 GMT -5
WI's bear population is increasing exponentially, too--just a few years ago it was estimated at about 8000, and then two years later it was estimated at 23000!! Probably more by now. But we'd be in bear territory, anyway, living out in the woods. We really don't have much of a conflict with them--if they raid the feeders, we bring the feeders in so as not to acclimate them to being close to humans and dogs, and by the end of the season, they've moved on. If we're lucky, we get to see them, like the one a couple days ago. For a long while we were seeing sign from a really large bear--back on the easement, I'd see huge prints in the sand. Big enough that I could easily fit my hand in the print from its heel to the claws--and my hand is 7 inches long. It lingered for the whole summer but I never saw anything but prints. I have to admit it made me a little nervous when I was birdwatching back there--the snap of every little twig would make me jump!
Please be extra careful Hazel.
What species of bears do you have?
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Apr 24, 2015 21:58:33 GMT -5
I would guess black bears - HRM will confirm or not. I had friends that went bear hunting (with bow and arrow) and it was always black bears.
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Post by hazelrunmama on Apr 25, 2015 13:35:08 GMT -5
Yep, just interior black bears. They are, as a rule, fairly shy, so you don't usually see them. And despite my nervousness, they aren't particularly aggressive. I've even been (unknowingly) between a mother and her cub and survived without seeing either. I heard a cub wail and then heard a thud behind me (I think it might have fallen out of a tree) and then crashing from in front of me as the mom ran to make sure Junior was okay. I could hear her passage through the brush, but she gave me a wide berth. Had me breathing pretty hard and listening for every little sound for a while. LOL This was on the easement road and I was only about 35 feet from my yard.
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Post by BarbK on May 7, 2015 23:27:16 GMT -5
Hazel, Face to face with a bear? I don't think I would have survived that. Do you bring pepper spray or something like that on your walks?
Did you see on the TV news the elderly man who punched a bear in the nose that came close to his house? He was hilarious. He said he was protecting his dog. Then they showed his dog (he was carrying it). It was a tiny chihuahua (sp?). So adorable.
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Post by hazelrunmama on May 8, 2015 13:20:19 GMT -5
I don't bring anything defense-related as far as bears go on my walks, Barbara. I sometimes carry for self-defense, but if the noise from that thing didn't scare the bear away, I'd be doomed. LOL I'd have to resort to punching it in the nose, too! Or hitting it with a pistol butt or my binocularss! But except when they're coming into food (i.e. raiding feeders or garbage cans) they're pretty shy and non-intrusive. I never even saw Mama Bear the day I got between her and the cub--I just heard her passage. Which, in itself, is sort of scary, as she was close and making noise and I still wasn't able to spot her! O.O
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Post by luv2bird on May 8, 2015 16:33:20 GMT -5
I don't bring anything defense-related as far as bears go on my walks, Barbara. I sometimes carry for self-defense, but if the noise from that thing didn't scare the bear away, I'd be doomed. LOL I'd have to resort to punching it in the nose, too! Or hitting it with a pistol butt or my binocularss! But except when they're coming into food (i.e. raiding feeders or garbage cans) they're pretty shy and non-intrusive. I never even saw Mama Bear the day I got between her and the cub--I just heard her passage. Which, in itself, is sort of scary, as she was close and making noise and I still wasn't able to spot her! O.O
Wonder if pepper spray would work?
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Post by BarbK on May 9, 2015 10:55:03 GMT -5
Hazel, I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before. Quite a while back, my niece looked out her window and there was a bear lying on the ground, pouring birdseed from one of her feeders down his throat. It must have looked so funny (I'm sure not to her).
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Post by hazelrunmama on May 9, 2015 14:45:44 GMT -5
I've heard that some bears really like the taste of pepper spray, l2b--I've seen video of a bear actually rolling in a spot that had been sprayed with it! LOL Also, pepper spray is only good if the wind is with you and your target is less than 15 feet away--and if I can help it, I'm not going to get that close to a bear! O.O Barbara, that would have been a hoot to watch! Bears are pretty entertaining--even if they're wrecking your feeder line! I left the feeders up night before last because it was raining and they all survived intact, so maybe the bear(s) moved on. I'll maybe try hanging feeders at night again come June.
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Post by downylover on May 11, 2015 18:26:25 GMT -5
I'd be dead or just stepped on. I'd probably pass right out. I love wildlife but I think coming face to face with a big bear would be too much for me. Chipmunks and bunnies are more my speed.
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