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BY CALI BAGBY
Is a Fed Bear
a Dead Bear?
Florence has bears in the backyard
Black Bear
D
ead bears are something that Brooks
Fahy, executive director of Predator
Defense, deals with every spring and
summer. This July has already rung up a death
toll of eight black bears on the central Oregon
coast. These animals were charged with
bad-bear behaviors such as eating garbage,
charging people and breaking into homes.
Rather than killing the bears, Fahy says it is
possible to deter them using techniques from
loud noises to employing “bear dogs.”
Do confl icts arise when bears intrude
into people’s domains or are there confl icts
because people intrude into the bear’s
domain? Whichever way you view it there are
problems. “A lot of what we do is meet with the
public and look at what caused the problem,”
very intelligent,” says Wagner. “They learn
garbage has food that is worth the effort to get
making it a habit really hard to break.”
For the last 15 years Fahy has seen results
from lightly hazing these wild creatures.
Hazing includes banging pots and pans,
throwing stones and sticks and using trained
Karelian bear dogs. These bear dogs were
originally bred in Finland and western Russia
to hunt bear and moose. According to www.
beardogs.org “Just as a border collie has an
instinct for moving sheep, some dogs out
of each litter are born with an instinct for
handling bears safely.” Bear dogs are used in
the U.S. to deter, monitor and patrol bears, and
even sniff out food attractants.
“I was surprised that the bears didn’t come
back,” says Fahy, who looks for alternate ways
to deal with predators. “It’s unfortunate that it
costs more to have someone trained to go out
and haze bears and maintain Karelian dogs
than to have someone go out and set a trap,”
A possible reason for the recent upsurge
in encounters with bears in urban areas may
be attributed to the cool spring, which has
cause certain natural vegetation to be a few
weeks late, but Fahy remains unconvinced
that a lack of berries is the only problem.
“Florence has bloomed,” says Fahy. “There
hasn’t been great planning for greenways and
corridors.” As cities grow, wild animals often
get confused and stumble into areas where
they don’t belong. “I’ve seen bears in areas
you wouldn’t dream of seeing bears in,” says
Fahy who has been working with wildlife for
over 30 years.
‘If a bear taps on a window it is likely
because someone has been feeding
that bear through that window.’
— Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense
says Fahy about the nonprofi t organization
where he works. Often people make honest
mistakes like feeding pets outside, leaving
out bird feeders (black bears love black oil
sunfl ower seeds) or leaving trash vulnerable
to be opened. One solution is for people to
remove bird feeders for at least two weeks or
to at least move the feeder to a place where the
bears cannot easily reach the seeds.
Meat scraps should not be tossed into the
compost and bags of any type of food should
not be left out in the open. It is important to
never feed the bears. If a bear taps on a window
it is likely because someone has been feeding
that bear through that window, says Fahy. The
bears bear the brunt of human mistakes. “As
the old saying goes, a fed bear is a dead bear,”
says Fahy. “But even if bears are habituated
these bears can break their habits.”
Tami Wagner, an assistant district wildlife
biologist in the North Coast Watershed District,
also suggests people with bears in their area
purchase air horns to scare the bears away, but
Wagner doesn’t see it as a solution. “Bears are
Fahy suggests that the ODFW make public
service announcements to remind people that
bears are coming out of hibernation and that
people need to keep on eye on any food that
is left out. This message is important in the
spring when bears start to become active and
are very hungry. Fahy is concerned that there
are no billboards or bumper stickers reminding
people to take proper steps in order to ensure
more peaceful relationships with these bears.
The ODFW say it has tried to spread the
word about bear activity through newspapers,
television and the radio. Wagner has seen less
garbage and birdfeeders in areas by Waldport
and Yachats in the last couple weeks after
press releases were sent out.
If too many black bears are lost to Oregon’s
habitat their role may not be seen until it is too
late. It may be hard for some who fear these
predators to realize that black bears help to
spread seeds and are scavengers that help keep
the environment clean. “Often people won’t
see the benefi t of these predators until they are
gone,” says Fahy.
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EUGENE WEEKLY JULY 24, 2008 13