Bears: It’s that time of year

Bear numbers have been creeping up in the northern Lower Peninsula for about a decade. In fact, bears are being occasionally seen in numerous places where they've never been found in previous years.

Don't believe me? Consider this: Two bears (perhaps the same bear twice) have been seen  in Traverse City, and not far from Munson Hospital. It's a small bear, and probably last year's boar that Mom has kicked out as she prepared for the past summer breeding period.

If that's not convincing, a bear has been seen twice in Frankfort near the west end of town. Again, it's quite likely it is the same bear that has been seen on two different nights.

Bears move around, and most problems come from young animals.

The breeding period may be why many more bears are being seen in the past two month. A new Bear Crossing sign was erected on M-115 just northwest of Cadillac a few years ago. The reason is to caution motorists to slow down in that area. Folks, the Highway Department doesn't erect those signs as a make-work project. Bears cross there and some have been killed by cars or trucks. Often, it's young bears that get killed.

The area on the west side of the highway is a major swamp that extends more than 20 miles north and south, and although I haven't heard of a bruin being killed by a vehicle there lately, it is a favorite crossing location for these animals.

Another location just a few miles west of M-115 at Cadillac on M-55 usually sees three or four bears killed by cars and trucks each year. The area has always been a favorite bear crossing site.

Deer Crossing signs are common in both peninsulas, but when Bear Crossing signs are put in place, it's done for a reason. An increasing number of black bears live nearby, and move through these areas.

The Mitchell Lake Swamp at Cadillac normally holds at least 20 bruins, and some years it may hold as many as 30 animals. An increase in bruin numbers in certain locations is caused by Mom kicking the kids out before she breeds again.

The cubs are nearly fully grown, and often will weight 80 to 100 pounds. Most of these transient animals are young boars that are trying to stay out of the reach of older and larger male bears. This causes them to wander into new and unfamiliar territory, and a young boar running from a big boar can cross  highways and be killed.

Big boars will kill every young male bear they encounter, which is why they move.

Or ... the animals can become a nuisance to homeowners when they find outside garbage cans tipped over and smashed. Bears frequently come up on porches at night to get into a bird feeder, and beekeepers find young bruins at fault with the destruction of bee hives. There has been some bear damage to bee hives in Leelanau County and in Benzie County near Thompsonville  and Nessen City.

These bears are looking for a home, and frequently come into close contact with humans. There is a poorly-defined line between acceptance and a lack of acceptance among humans when it comes to black bears.

The bear seasons in both peninsulas will begin soon, and this also can lead to more bruins wandering around as they are unknowingly pushed by humans and dogs.

This acceptable level of these animals can change quickly if they begin destroying property. The farther south bears go, the lower their social acceptance level becomes. Draw a line from Grand Rapids through Midland to Bay City, and south of that line the willingness of the public to share habitat with bears is not very high at all.

A bear wandering around Clarkston about 15 years made the news, and city people were peeking out their windows before walking from their front door to the car. That bruin, a young male, was chased and seen by many people, and finally captured in the Thumb area about 50-75 miles away. The hue and cry of city dwellers forced the DNR to relocate the animal for its own safety.

The Thumb area is seeing more and more bears as time goes on. There are areas of thick wooded cover and swamps, and such areas quickly become home to a wayward bruin seeking more solitude from other larger bears. How long those animals will survive in the Thumb region is anyone's guess.

More bruins are being seen when they’’ve never been before.

My though is the animals will hang around as long as they aren't disturbed and don't become a nuisance, and part of that means that humans must keep their garbage indoors, move pet food dishes inside, and if the bears start raiding bird feelers, they will have to be brough indoors at night.

And therein is another problem with bears. They need room, and so do humans. Do we need as much as we have? It's a debatable question, but bear habitat is slowly shrinking while the population of bruins is growing.

The DNR is doing a great job of managing black bears, but bears have been seen near Bay City, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Midland, and as far south as the Michigan-Indiana and Michigan-Ohio borders.

Some great bear habitat is found south of that Flint to Grand Rapids line, and the food sources are much greater than those in northern counties where snow keeps the animals denned up from December through April.

Can we look for a greater southern movement of young black bears in coming years?

I think so. I also see more of the animals getting killed  on highway. I see more damage being done to croplands by hungry bruins, and great damage being done to bee hives.

Can we expect our southern residents to welcome black bears with open arms? Not hardly.

One or two bears spread over a 20-mile area wouldn't hurt anything, but if the animals found a cozy little swamp near great food supplies near Lansing, Jackson or Kalamazoo and start being seen on a regular basis, many people would rise up and scream for their removal.

So where will the DNR take the bears? Most locations with a notable bear population have enough. The Upper Peninsula doesn't need more animals.

We have moved into their habitat, taken their land, and then complain when they want to take some of it back. Ask those people who live near Denver how much fun it is to move into some of those secluded canyons only to find that mountain lions live there as well. Mountain lions are far more aggressive than the average bear, but  no one wants bears hanging around their home and children.

Bears, like state prisons, are a victim of the NIMBY Factor -- which stands for Not In My Back Yard. So the state scientifically manages the state's bear numbers, but they can't stop the slow southward drift of the animals.

Me, I'm rooting for the bears but know the end is inevitable. The bruins may make very slow inroads into our southern swamps, but bear numbers will remain higher in the northern counties where most people will accept them.

It's just too bad that people in our southern counties really don't want the animals anywhere within 200 miles of them. It's sad because they don't understand how nice it is to know that bears live nearby although we seldom see  them.

Seeing them is a thrill people should  experience, at least once in their life. And if that bruin is near home, it may cause a few sleepless nights for those who leave their garbage cans and bird feeders outdoors.

But, simply stated, such causes often are the fault of the humans who are too lazy to remove a bear's temptation.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors