As a local resident of an Adirondack town, it is a common occurrence to witness people feeding wildlife from their cars, handfeeding them from the sidewalk, or following them in hopes of capturing a photo or video. Following the recent euthanizing of a mother bear and two cubs in Old Forge on Aug. 11 after the trio was deemed a threat to public safety by a NYS DEC officer who witnessed Class 1 “aggressive behavior”, community members are brainstorming ideas to help prevent this from happening in the future. The Town of Webb has already posted several signs throughout the community, urging people to refrain from feeding all wildlife, including bears, deer, and moose, which are illegal to feed in New York State. Local residents have proposed hefty fines, a greater NYS DEC presence during busy tourist seasons, encouraging proper garbage and food storage practices, a memorial statue that would describe what happened to the bear family, a volunteer group of community members who could issue civil citations to violators, and creating a billboard that depicts euthanized bears with the wording, “A fed bear is a dead bear; violators will be fined.”
What’s your take? What do you think could help deter people from feeding Adirondack wildlife?
Photo at top: Black bear cub in a tree. Flickr photo.
Lots of locals feed wildlife including deer and bears. They are called “bird feeders”.
Locals or part time locals
Also, in the past the “town” was feeding the bears – the dump!
How come it wasn’t a huge problem then?
Partially answering my own question, I think we have lots more bears now. I have already seen 5 this summer. Used to see an average of 0. Maybe get lucky and see one deer hunting.
They likely never strayed from the dump.
In the 1950’s when my family camped in Sacandaga (for $3 a week), one of the highlights of our vacation was to watch the bears feed at the dump. There was not even the slightest chance that any of us thought there might be something even slightly “off” about the whole situation.
Having some distance now between yourself and 1950’s, is there a chance you may think there might be anything slightly “off” about what was normal and acceptable then? Or maybe all that’s changed is that the fun has been spoiled.
In the 1950’s feeding the bears was acceptable and homosexuality was not acceptable. Some probably thought it OK to feed the latter to the former, but times have changed for the better. Now it is OK for homosexual bears to feed on the politician of your choice.
The Lake Ozonia dump was a hot spot for viewing back in the 70’s.
Bird feeders should only be out when bears are hibernating.
Lots of Info at (bearwise.org)
New York’s bear population is increasing. They are expanding their range which now brings them into towns. That used to be very unusual, now it is common. There was recently a bear that walked into Walgreens, this is a problem we are causing. It always ends poorly for the bear which is sad. Reduced hunter numbers, agriculture and restrictive conservation laws all contribute to this. I believe if NY allowed the use of bait and/or hounds during bear season, (as several other states and provinces do) it would allow effective population management. For now though, the DEC relies on the random encounter during deer season to manage bears. To go along with that, not every hunter should automatically get a bear tag when they purchase a deer license as it is now. There should be quotas by region and drawings. Like it or hate it, unless we manage the population bears will continue to enter towns and meet the fate of the family of three.
“It always ends poorly for the bear which is sad.”
“I believe if NY allowed the use of bait and/or hounds during bear season, (as several other states and provinces do) it would allow effective population management.”
Help me understand. You seem to be saying, if we pointlessly killed more of them in the forest, after terrifying them with a pack of dogs, that is less… “sad?”
What suggestions do you have for the management of the human population?
Happy to explain but not sure you will understand as we clearly hold different views. I have hunted bears in three states and two provinces for many years and yes, I have been successful some of those times. I won’t say thousands, but definitely hundreds of hours spent in pursuit of them. I have watched them for hours without them knowing I was there and have been watched by them only to find out later they were there. I think they are an amazing creature and truly admire them. I find it sad that such an awesome animal meets its end in town because of foolish people. That was pointless. There was nothing sporting or ethical about it. Legal, ethical hunting may be pointless in your opinion but not mine. Legally taking the right bear under sporting conditions is an incredible experience that only someone who hunts can understand. As for baiting and dogs, there is a great advantage to both the hunter and many of the bears. Unlike the chance encounter NY DEC presently uses the bait/hound hunter has the opportunity to decide if this is the right bear to take at that time. Does it have cubs, is it small, (bears are hard to judge in size without some experience) or am I simply having more fun watching then shooting right now? Again, if you are not a hunter I doubt you will understand but please know it is about the whole experience and not just killing a bear. Yes, I hunt them, have killed a few, truly admire them and don’t feel the slightest bit conflicted. I hope that helps.
Well, right up front I acknowledge and completely respect your thoughtful response.
Follow up question: If you wished to take the time, I’d like to understand how one concludes “baiting and dogs” is “sporting or ethical?”
The same scenario that just played out in Old Forge this year happened in Long Lake last year. Except we had five bears conditioned to raiding garbage bins killed! One group was proactive and wanted to personally pay for bear proof garbage bins like the ones installed around Old Forge. The other group thought the bear proof bins would send the wrong message to tourists so the town said no! The DEC was happy to come and give public bearwise lectures at our public library. I asked the DEC officers giving the lectures why officials and business owners of Old Forge didn’t think twice when installing bear proof garbage bins. “ Businesses in Old Forge were loosing money because bears were destroying merchandise and structure damage.” All I can say to the people of Old Forge, good luck with your people/bear conflict and please let the rest of us know how you fix the mess we humans keep creating for the bears! Because I’m sure as long as towns keep having seasonal rentals and catering to tourists the DEC will have to keep doing the dirty work of killing bears so as to protect humans from the mess we’ve created!
Re- Discussion Time: Bears – Consider this quote from today’s “Age of Extinction” series in The Guardian:
“Humans have already transformed or occupied between 70% and 75% of the world’s land. Research published in Science Advances on Wednesday found the overlap between human and wildlife populations is expected to increase across 57% of the Earth’s land by 2070, driven by human population growth”
I was at Forked Lake campground last week; multiple “problem” bears have been euthanized there this summer. But the “problem” isn’t bears, it is both sloppy, careless campers and a staff that doesn’t bother to enforce rules. We had a group of more than a dozen people at the next door site that brought multiple coolers and were going to “stay a long time” staff told us. How can food and trash for so many people at one site be managed where bears reside? It can’t! The steel bear boxes work for a smaller group, but it’s impossible for a dozen people. Staff and region DEC don’t respond to requests to enforce basic safety and occupancy rules. Therein lies the problem.
I’ve hiked and camped in the Tetons a couple of times. all of the “drive to” and some of the “hike to” sites have metal bear bins to store food. we received a warning note for leaving a dish towel hanging on a tent guy line. neighbor received a fine for leaving a pot on a picnic table when they were our for the day. they take prevention of human-bear interaction very seriously!
What do you want the staff to do for enforcement ?. 60 some odd sites, they would have to boat up close and eyeball each and every site, maybe walk the site to observe. That seems pretty intrusive to me, I think I might get annoyed. It’s not like a standard campground where they can drive around and observe. I’ve camped there 8 consecutive years, never heard of a bear problem as the bear boxes helped keep that under control, unless the campers there this year suddenly got very stupid.
Typical backwoods trashy behavior, blame the tourists while never looking at themselves. This has currently been happening in another Adirondack town where local businesses are feeding on purpose to rack up business, but blame summer people instead. Guess this area doesn’t appreciate how poor it would really be without the money from the rest of us.
Wow. Some people will debate anything. How is this even an issue?
How is it NOT? It’s the same story at Lake Tahoe, PNW,…