Laurie Snider
Notes from the Nest
The first time I remember encountering a black bear, was while sitting with my family, in our Rambler, at the dump, in Restoule Provincial Park. I was probably about 5 or 6 years old. Strangely, this was always the after-dinner entertainment, on our camping trips in the 1960s.
The bears were known to frequent the landfills, getting their fill of discarded snacks and the campers would congregate together each evening, to watch them, from the safety of their vehicles. Despite the unseemly surroundings, I already forged a healthy respect and sense of awe for these highly intelligent, largely misunderstood, remarkable, magnificent creatures.
Thankfully, when we took our own children camping, greater wisdom had lead our national and provincial parks, to become much more bear wise. Finally, the best interest of the bears had been taken into account and now campers were made to properly store food and waste to avoid bear confrontations and fines.
Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to have a few brushes with bears, in their natural habitats, enjoying their wonder and beauty up close. Rather ironically, while reading to our children about bear facts at Sleeping Giant Park, near Thunder Bay, a mother and her two cubs ambled by. She barely gave us a glance as she shepherded her babies, along the roadside back into the forest, leaving us staring in amazement.
A few years later, while hiking to the furthest possible point from the parking lot, at Forillion National Park in Gaspe, our two sons were well ahead of us, on a winding path up to the picnic area. Curtis and Benny rather boisterously, looked down on us from the path above, happily declaring, “There’s a bear up here.” We high-tailed it up above, to find a stout black bear, munching on fresh, green shoots.
Apparently, the bear didn’t find us all that interesting and nonchalantly continued chewing away on weeds and seeds. The five of us stayed together, kept talking and gave way, heading back down the path, allowing the bear to continue eating in peace, leaving us feeling captivated by our friendly rendezvous.
Unfortunately, myths about bears being man-eating beasts have abounded, leading to many so-called nuisance bears being killed. Truthfully, full-blown bear attacks are rare. They don’t usually occur at campgrounds or by bears who are familiar with people.
Of the estimated 750,000 black bears in North America, fewer than one person every three years is killed, despite hundreds of encounters. Conversely, each year 25 people die by snakes, 67 by dogs, 180 by bees and a staggering 15,611 by homicide. Interesting!
Another misguided tale about black bears is that when they stand on their hind legs and snort, they’re about to charge. According to renowned bear expert, Mike McIntosh of Bearwithus, they’re actually standing taller, and sniffing to get a better look and sense of potential threats to them. Commonly, they’ll retreat before you become aware of them.
Black bears have excellent vision, including a reflector system which helps them with night vision. They have colour vision and prefer foraging during the day but will also snuffle and shuffle in the dark to avoid humans. They have sensitive hearing, much better than we do and an uncanny sense of smell, having one hundred times more nasal mucosa for identifying scents, than people do.
Another reason to keep the food packed away safely and garbage in bear-proof containers, is because of their exceptional memories. Once they identify a spot as a food source, they’ll come back, revisiting yards and campsites, travelling up to 100 km, if they learn food can be found there.
Contrary to popular belief, black bear mothers, unlike grizzly mothers, seldom attack in defense of their cubs. According to bear expert, Lynn Rogers, researchers have even held screaming cubs and haven’t been attacked. If you do happen to find yourself under attack, you’re advised not to play dead but kick with your hands and feet or any hard object.
A black bear’s preferred diet is nuts, fruit, seeds, insects, tender shoots, fish, carrion and sometimes meat. The majority of negative bear interactions occur because of improperly stored garbage, pet food, bird feeders, compost, fruit trees and beehives. So, if you’re living in bear country, eliminating these potential food sources can avoid these possible conflicts, which frequently result in bears having to be relocated or shot.
If you do have to scare a bear, McIntosh’s suggestion is yelling loudly, “Go away, bear!” and shaking a large plastic bag, which he advises carrying with you. McIntosh’s mission is to promote understanding and respect for these interesting, clever, noble creatures. He says, “despite their capability to be dangerous, for some reason, they exhibit tremendous restraint around humans.” Surely, we own them the same.