BOSTON (WHDH) - As bears work to pack on the pounds ahead of the winter hibernation season, the Mass. Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Mass. Environmental Police are asking for the public’s help to avoid encounters.
Specifically, they’re asking for the public to remove food sources like bird seed feeders and unsecured trash cans so the bears, who don’t eat or drink all winter, don’t get into them.
“Some bears have become accustomed to human-associated foods, such as bird seed, trash, and pet food, and are more likely to unfortunately cause damage and become a nuisance,” said Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Ron Amidon. “Removal of food sources and other attractants is key to preventing problems with bears.”
Tips include:
- Avoid bird feeders in areas with bears, and grow native plants, shrubs and trees or add a water feature to attract birds instead
- Use an electric fence to keep bears out of areas with bees, chickens, crops and livestock
- Store garbage in closed containers in a garage or outbuilding, and don’t leave them out overnight
- Keep meat scraps, greasy, oily or sweet materials out of compost piles
- Keep pet food indoors
- Keep dogs leashed, and don’t let them interact with bears
- Check the yard for bears before letting your dog out
- Back away slowly and leave the area if you encounter a bear while with your dog
Black bears are omnivores, so they eat both vegetation and meat. In the fall, they enter a phase called hyperphagia, which is a compulsion to consume as much high-calorie food as possible. Although bears’ diets typically include foods like corn and stands of oak, beech and hickory trees, they’ve also been known to eat from bird feeders, chicken coops, orchards and beehives.
“It’s important for the public to understand that just seeing a bear is not a public safety threat,” said Massachusetts Environmental Police Colonel Shaun Santos. “As the bear range expands eastward, many communities will begin seeing bears for the first time and residents will need to learn important strategies to coexist with bears.”
Bears typically hibernate from mid-November/early December and early March/mid-April. They make their dens in brush piles, under fallen trees or piles of rocks, or in mountain laurel thickets. Cubs typically are born in January, and remain with their mother for about 17 months.
“Here in Massachusetts, we have been tracking the movements of bears for many years,” said MassWildlife Black Bear Project Leader Dave Wattles. “Our research shows that bears will keep revisiting neighborhoods where bird feeders and other human foods are present. They remember the location of food sources year after year, and this information is often passed from the sow to her cubs.”
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