Bear Stories: NC’s Black Bears

Black bears inhabit the North Carolina highlands, rather famously. Even though by census the state has fewer bears [11,000] than Pennsylvania [15,000] or Minnesota [30,000], frequent encounters with campers in the parks and forests are reported, and people who live in the mountains are often familiar with the bears for whom their trash, fruit trees and berry thickets have been claimed as territory.

The Washington Post reported on November 14th that researchers at the Smithsonian Institute in D.C. have used motion-sensitive cameras to photograph wildlife along a segment of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The 1,900 pictures showed wild horses, domestic dogs, deer and bear cubs wandering the trail at night when no one was watching. This project didn’t include the North Carolina sections of the trail, but the researchers were surprised by the number of bears recorded nonetheless. I’d suspect that if they had put cameras along North Carolina sections, there would have been a lot more bear sightings.

The Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville devotes an entire page of its website to “Black Bear Aware.” It includes some bear facts and bear history, then offers some good bear advice:

Many people worry about having encounters with bears while they are hiking or camping. If you do encounter a bear, do not feed it or get close to it. Back away slowly making a lot of noise and do not run. Never surround or corner the bear or bears. If you happen to be attacked by the bear, the National Park Service Black Bear Brochure advised to fight back as hard as you can with any object near you. Be as loud and intimidating as you can. They suggest that playing dead is not appropriate. When you are camping or picnicking keep your site clean and free of food or anything food was stored [in]. You can hang your odiferous items in a tree at least ten feet off the ground and at least four feet away from the trunk or limbs. Never cook or eat foot in or near the tent and always pack out your trash.

Now, this is basic knowledge for those of us who live in the mountains and near or surrounded by the National Forest. Having encountered bears more than once or twice during camping trips to the Smokeys decades before moving here, knowing to hang food in a tree and never to leave popped corn on the table or firepit is something that becomes second nature. Bears are known to be experts at opening coolers - even Coleman fancy-lock coolers - and will destroy your vehicle to get at that cooler if you’re dumb enough to lock it in your car or trunk.

In the 15 years that my family has lived on property surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest we’ve had bears who winter in the bottomland, bears who will fight for rights to the berry patch if I don’t get there before s/he does, bears that loll about under the pear trees in fall gorging on fallen fruit (and keeping the dogs on the porch barking their heads off), and even a young male yearling who fell in love with our female black standard poodle. The longing was not mutual.

A big male still comes through every spring and fall to raid the trash bin if we don’t keep it emptied every week. He’s crazy about peanut butter and stale beer. He also smells very, very bad, though I hear female bears think that’s sexy. We keep our distance and so do the dogs. These animals can kill, and sometimes do. Whenever we hike the Graphite Trail or the Mackey’s Creek Trail over Heartbreak Ridge the rule is to always hike with a sturdy staff and make lots of noise, take at least one of the little girl-dogs (adopteds). They won’t chase wildlife, but will bark warnings and threats if you happen to meet any. It’s not happened, but I’m fairly sure that either of our loyal mutts would die to protect any of us if a bad bear encounter happened.

Playing dead doesn’t work with black bears like it works with Grizzlies - who usually only attack for defense. Black bears can just be moody. The largest black bear ever recorded was killed (legally) by a hunter on the ridge less than a quarter mile from my property line in 1999 - 880 pounds! That’s a hefty critter.

In 2004 newspapers reported that a black bear was found passed out after drinking 36 cans of beer in Baker Lake, Washington. The bear had opened the cooler (did I tell you they’re experts?), clawed open the cans and drank himself into a stupor. Oddly - or not - he only drank Rainier Beer while consuming only one can of Busch (and obviously not liking it very much). Go figure.

Black bears do not attack if you’re careful, pay attention to the rules. And it’s not unreasonable for me to believe that my little girl mutt dogs could probably defuse an encounter without too much risk. The Associated Press ran a photograph in June of 2006 showing a black bear that had been treed by a 15-pound tomcat named Jack in West Milford, New Jersey. When the cat was finally called home, the bear climbed out of the tree and ran away.

Living with our wildlife here in Western North Carolina is sharing the beauty with our animal co-inhabitants. It’s really not that hard, and we are often rewarded with deer in the yard (I fence the garden), foxes on the trail, bears in the orchard, and more kinds and colors of birds than anyone could count. Preserving the wildlife is as important as preserving the land, so that this beautiful treasure is available to be enjoyed generations down the line.

So if you plan to build or buy a mountain cabin here in North Carolina, your attitude about the land and the creatures who lived here before you is going to be important. It can also be very rewarding!

Links:

American Black Bear

Your Smokies: Black Bear Information

WNCNC: Black Bear Aware

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Filed under Wildlife, Bears, Hiking, NC Living, Education, Blue Ridge |