A black bear pays a visit to Oxford backyard bird feeder
A black bear looks over the bird feeders of Oxford residents backyard. It gorged on the jelly that was put out for the Orioles; hit up a few more feeders, and then rambled on. Bird feeders should be taken down to help eliminate bear visits. (Photo by Bob Greenman)
OXFORD - Reports of bear sightings in the area seem to be a more common occurrence recently. A few of the recent incidents occurred in rural areas of Preston, New Berlin, McDonough and Oxford, to name a few.
About a week ago Oxford resident Bob Greenman had a bear visit his backyard . He said he was sitting at his kitchen table and noticed something moving outside. A bear was standing at one of his feeders.
“The bear was trying to eat the jelly from the oriole feeder. After that, it was headed for the other feeders when it caught my dad’s attention,” he said. “My dog barked from a distance and it wandered off. I just grabbed my phone and started taking pictures from the kitchen.”
“It didn’t look surprised; but irritated the dog brought attention to it,” he added.
Greenman said this was his first bear sighting but he wasn’t alarmed. He didn’t call it in as the bear left peacefully and it was only an infant. His only worry was where its parents could be.
Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center Ellen Rathbone said she has not seen any bears, nor heard of any recent accounts of bear sightings.
She did however share the following best practices when humans and bears encounter one another; as she lived and worked in the Adirondacks and human-bear encounters were not uncommon.
1. Do not panic.
2. Let the bear know you are there by speaking in a calm tone. Do not startle it. The odds are, once the bear knows you are there, it will run away.
3. If the bear remains, change your route, or back away slowly.
4. If the bear approaches you, make yourself look as large as possible, make a lot of noise and if you have something nearby that you can throw, do so. Do not climb a tree. Bears can out climb people.
5. Bears may do a bluff charge at you, especially if you are close when it suddenly becomes aware of you. This is defensive behavior and it sees you as a threat. Try to appear non-threatening, speak calmly and again, back away slowly. If the bear retreats, you too should leave the area as soon as possible.
6. If the bear should attack or attempt to make contact, do not play dead. Fight back. Experts say to concentrate on its face, eyes, and nose.
7. If you encounter a bear at home watch from the safety of your house. It should eventually leave on its own. If it doesn’t leave, scare it off with loud noises and or throw things.
8. If it is raiding your bird feeders, take them down for a few weeks. It it is raiding your compost, stop composting for awhile. They have a powerful sense of smell and food/compost is very attractive to their senses.
9. Use bear spray if you must.
“Most importantly, do not feed the bears,” Rathbone added. “As we used to say in the Adirondacks; a fed bear is a dead bear. This is because they become habituated and start to associate people with food; meaning homes, cars, campsites, backpacks, etc and people.”
“These are wild animals. They are not cuddly toys or Disney-esque creatures. Treat them with respect and keep your distance,” said Rathbone.
About a week ago Oxford resident Bob Greenman had a bear visit his backyard . He said he was sitting at his kitchen table and noticed something moving outside. A bear was standing at one of his feeders.
“The bear was trying to eat the jelly from the oriole feeder. After that, it was headed for the other feeders when it caught my dad’s attention,” he said. “My dog barked from a distance and it wandered off. I just grabbed my phone and started taking pictures from the kitchen.”
“It didn’t look surprised; but irritated the dog brought attention to it,” he added.
Greenman said this was his first bear sighting but he wasn’t alarmed. He didn’t call it in as the bear left peacefully and it was only an infant. His only worry was where its parents could be.
Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center Ellen Rathbone said she has not seen any bears, nor heard of any recent accounts of bear sightings.
She did however share the following best practices when humans and bears encounter one another; as she lived and worked in the Adirondacks and human-bear encounters were not uncommon.
1. Do not panic.
2. Let the bear know you are there by speaking in a calm tone. Do not startle it. The odds are, once the bear knows you are there, it will run away.
3. If the bear remains, change your route, or back away slowly.
4. If the bear approaches you, make yourself look as large as possible, make a lot of noise and if you have something nearby that you can throw, do so. Do not climb a tree. Bears can out climb people.
5. Bears may do a bluff charge at you, especially if you are close when it suddenly becomes aware of you. This is defensive behavior and it sees you as a threat. Try to appear non-threatening, speak calmly and again, back away slowly. If the bear retreats, you too should leave the area as soon as possible.
6. If the bear should attack or attempt to make contact, do not play dead. Fight back. Experts say to concentrate on its face, eyes, and nose.
7. If you encounter a bear at home watch from the safety of your house. It should eventually leave on its own. If it doesn’t leave, scare it off with loud noises and or throw things.
8. If it is raiding your bird feeders, take them down for a few weeks. It it is raiding your compost, stop composting for awhile. They have a powerful sense of smell and food/compost is very attractive to their senses.
9. Use bear spray if you must.
“Most importantly, do not feed the bears,” Rathbone added. “As we used to say in the Adirondacks; a fed bear is a dead bear. This is because they become habituated and start to associate people with food; meaning homes, cars, campsites, backpacks, etc and people.”
“These are wild animals. They are not cuddly toys or Disney-esque creatures. Treat them with respect and keep your distance,” said Rathbone.
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