March 27, 2008

Game department’s online video teaches bear basics

RICHMOND—Spring is officially here, and black bears are emerging from hibernation all over Virginia.

While the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has never recorded an official report of a black bear attacking a human, the animals can be a tremendous nuisance to farmers and an unsettling presence for both rural and suburban residents.

The game department has produced an online video to educate Virginians on how to live with their natural neighbors and reduce bear-human conflicts. It can be viewed at www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/bear.

The bear population has grown so large that damage to farm crops and orchards is becoming a major problem. And bears can do tremendous property damage when they go after human garbage. Nuisance bears often are seen in suburban areas in the spring, especially young bears that have just left their mothers and are searching for food and their own range.

“The big three things are bird food, pet food and trash cans,” said Fred Frenzel, a VDGIF wildlife biologist in the video. “Sometimes barbecue grills, sometimes compost piles, but the majority of the calls and complaints I get are dealing with bird food, pet food and trash cans.”

While as recently as 1950 black bears lived only in the mountains and within the Great Dismal Swamp, today they can be found throughout the state. Only a few counties near the Chesapeake Bay and on the Eastern Shore do not have an active bear population.

The video emphasizes that most bears are more afraid of you than you are of them. So if you encounter a bear in the woods, remain calm and move away. A good way to prevent surprising a bear is to talk with your companions or make noise as you walk.

“If you ever come up close to a bear—you know, you turn a corner and there’s a bear there that didn’t hear you coming—the best thing to do is to just kind of walk away backwards quietly,” said Jaime Sajeckit, VDGIF Bear Project leader. Once the bear realizes you’re there, it will probably leave on its own, she said.

But if a bear is in your yard or trying to get at your trash or pet food, it’s OK to try to scare it off.

“You go outside, you let the bear see you, but then you can throw rocks at it,” said David Kocka, VDGIF wildlife biologist. “You can make a loud noise, to stress the fact that they’re not welcome there.”

Bear experts recommend securing garbage indoors, taking trash to the dump frequently, picking up leftover pet food and removing bird feeders in the spring.

Contact Norm Hyde, VFBF video producer, at 804-290-1146.