Bears in the berry patches

A black bear feeding on summer berries is still alert to danger.
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Several days ago, while visiting an archery shop, I heard the first reference to picking berries. The word was some early raspberries were out, but we needed more rain.

So, we had two rain showers. I don't know whether we've had enough rain to do the berries much good, but I plan to get out and check it soon. I'm thinking red and black raspberries and blueberries next month. I love them on my breakfast cereal. The larger blackberries pop out this month and next,

I love all kinds of summer berries. I can get red and black raspberries near home but have to travel to some remote locations for the others. The travel doesn't bother me, but in these remote locations there are others critters that love wild berries.

They are called black bears. Several of the areas where I pick black raspberries and blue berries are areas frequented by bears.

Two things of major important occur in July and August. We reach the point when female bears come into estrus, and male bears are cruising in search of females. Most of the breeding is done by adult boars, but  since they like berries, it's not all that unlikely that a bruin could be feeding in a berry patch.

Be aware of bear habits and habitats

Most of the time bears will go out of their way to avoid humans. However, bear cubs are much like small children who are so into having fun, they could get close to human berry pickers. Should that happen, and should the sow bear be close to cubs, it could lead to some trouble.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to make enough noise by talking as you walk through the swamps, uplands and hardwoods. Bears, especially adult animals, are always alert to the sound of humans nearby.

Given any kind of chance, bears will retreat to a more quiet area when humans are not found. They often feed on berries, wild apples, cherries and other fruit during the night, but bears do move during daylight hours. So, it means taking a load of common sense into the woods with you. Make more noise once you get near the berry patch, and look around for bears.

Pay some attention to the photo above. The bear is sitting down behind some brush as it feeds in a berry patch. The image doesn't jump right out at you, but the animal is easy to see if you are looking for a black object.

If you happen onto a feeding bear, it makes sense to move to a different berry patch where there are no bruins openly feeding on the fruit.
Make a quiet retreat, but don't running off yelling at the top of your lungs. Once well away from the area, continue to make some noise. If you go back to the berry patch, approach it with human voice talks and progress slowly. A cautious but noisy approach will usually find the bear long gone.

Continue to use common sense where moving down rows of blueberries. Bears, by nature, are rather curious animals but there is no logic and no sense in remaining silent when heading for the nearest berry patch.

Perhaps you've never seen a bruin in that patch, but that doesn't mean a bear couldn't be in there feeding. They are rather silent feeders, and make little noise when walking if they are suspicious of humans nearby.

Common sense and awareness keep men and bears out of confrontation

I've taken quite a few photos of wild bear, and don't photograph tame bears, and you've got to work pretty hard to fool an adult bruin. One other tip is to figure out where the wind is blowing to, and get in the wind with it at your back as you enter a berry patch. Having the wind at your back means a bear will smell you before it sees or hears you, and will be long gone before you get close/

Understand that no one knows everything about bears, and what is written here is written by a man who has hunted bears often, and has had a few confrontations with sows and cubs. Remember this: bears are normally docile and will move away from humans if given the chance, but black bears are more unpredictable than most of the other bear species.

Being unpredictable means you should never trust them. I've written numerous stories about some of my experiences, but don't expect bruins to always act as they have with me. This is not mean to be a frightening story, nor is it meant to keep people from finding berry patches and picking berries.

It is meant to give people a heads-up about bears that breed and feed on berries during the summer. A word to the wise should be sufficient.