Smarter than the average suburbanite

Presented without editing from our neighborhood newsletter:

Our resident bear was sighted again this morning just about the time that the school bus was picking up kids. What was different this time was the fact that he was crossing Lake Tree Lane up by the tennis courts; he wasn’t in the back yards by the woods. I have once again e-mailed Steve Ferguson our Game Warden, and asked that he and the State Wildlife Biologist come out and meet with the neighborhood regarding the bear sightings. I will let you all know when this gets scheduled.

I know that there are many folks in WR that would like to see this bear shot or relocated. I have had a long conversation about this with Steve, during which he told me a lot about bears. I really wanted him to be the one to pass on this information because he is the expert (I’m NOT, and don’t claim to be), but because there was so much concern regarding this morning’s sighting, I guess I need to. I’m simply passing on what I was told, and this explains why after so many people have complained to his office we haven’t seen a battalion of Game Wardens out here tracking the bear.

With regard to the idea of trapping the bear, he said that they just won’t do it. He said that they have learned over the years that bears will return to the area where they were removed. He said that just a few years ago a bear from another state (I think it was Tennessee) was relocated here in Virginia. They put a tracking collar on the bear, and within 2 months it was back at the same spot in Tennessee. He said that they WILL shoot a bear, but only after it has either killed livestock or entered a home. The State has a huge book of regulations regarding what a Game Warden can and can’t do, and the section on shooting bears is literally 5 pages long. They know an awful lot about bear behavior, and they spend a lot of time trying to combat misinformation that people pick up from the movies (as I had).

From the description of the size of the bear, he estimates that this one is about 2 years old. He’s just been forced away from his mother at this point, and is out learning about the world firsthand. Unfortunately he hasn’t yet learned to stay away from houses. Steve said that when we see the bear near houses, make as much noise as possible. Help teach him that this is not someplace that he wants to be.

Two things that he said about bears really surprised me. The first one is that every square mile of Albemarle county is claimed by at least one bear as their own territory (by the way, we have more than one that claims WR as their territory). He said that there are two bears that live in Forest Lakes, and they have lived there in harmony with the residents for years. The second thing that he said that really surprised me was that we should think of this small (100 lbs.) bear as an overgrown raccoon. Curious, continually eating when food is present, and not really wanting human contact. Again, I’m just passing along what he told me, I am in no way a wildlife expert, and different situations can demand different actions. But this is apparently why they have not been really anxious to come out and eliminate the bear.

Yips! from Robbo: Mind you, the local police office is routinely flooded with reports of this kind of sighting whenever Steve-O goes for a walk:

So probably the no-shoot-on-sight rule is a good one.....