bear

[panner123]

Until you have had a bear attack, you have no idea of it's power and strenght. You can't just put up a stronger fence or a piece of plywood. A bear can tear a door of a car to get a piece of candy left inside. In one case here of bear tore a steel security door off a powder shed (a building that dyamite is kept in) to get a men's lunch. Anything short of a 3/8 inch steel plate box with a welded hasp and strong lock WILL NOT keep a bear out.
There are times when faced with a bear you can back off and walk away.
Any other time the bear must meet it's maker. Anyone that is not willing to KILL a bear, should NOT have children or animals in bear country. I won't add photos of dead bear and for some strange reason can't post photos here. But I can e-mail photos of the trap the state of Ca. will send out if you have a problem bear. But usless the bear has attacked a human, you must get on a waiting list for they only have about a hundred of them.
I have spent many hours and more money than I want to admit to, just to keep bears off my property. I not enjoy them killing my chickens and I don't enjoy killing them. So far those that have reached the chickens have met their maker. In every case a bear can't stand up to an arrow or a bullet. That is the only way to deal with a chicken kill bear.

 

[asher]

Scary stuff! It seems there are more bear sightings these days in more rural areas. I know around here it's b/c they do not allow bear hunting AND they are cutting down the woods so they are losing their homes so they are going in to rural areas.

 

[ChicknJ]

HI Panner, I have been following the bear thread, so sad, but as you said until you face this you don't understand the power of a bear. I live in the woods of florida and with all the flooding , the bears are on the move and in the neighborhood. I too do not wish to kill a bear, but if necessary, I will. I have run a strong electric tape around the girls coop, installed a baby monitor, so If I get a bear, maybe I'll stand a chance of not loosing them all, but I understand the risk of living and farming here. I have trapped and removed 3 coons, 1 possum and countless snakes, so I just try to be alert. J

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Asher I really think it is more than they are cutting down the woods. Nature needs balance and when that balance is not kept then there is problems. There has been no hunting allowed in NJ since the early 60's at least that is my understanding. The few hunts purposed have been canceled or the hunters have been bullied to the point they don't hunt. Bears don't have natural enemy's at least not many, man is needed to keep the balance. Some people don't understand this they believe that animals have more rights than people, hence the problem in NJ.

Panner I have more respect for you then anyone I know. Common sense approach to life just isn't found to much anymore. I too have been having my bear problems this week. I have been here almost 6 years with a big boar and almost 5 years with this sow and her various cubs. This week she misjudged and came on a day the boar is here. Her cubs are in my trees since Sat and she is playing lead the boar away games, makes for a very dangerous week here at my house. She has 3 new cubs this year her 3 from last year moved on. I am walking a tight rope here, they have been seen here by me for years but have never bothered anyone or anything but with this, well lets just say an accident is waiting to happen. I have all 7 of my brothers on alert. The DNR here is a joke no help there. Me I go about my business and just keep a watchful waiting eye. I know she don't go on the other neighbors property at least they have never seen either one of them. But they are on alert and watching their kids close.

Thanks Panner for all your help and advice. With total respect jean in UP of MI

 

[andehens]

Seems like we have every predator here, especially mt. lions, bobcats and bears, and if its not a predator its a pest! Gophers, wild pigs and so on. The property adjoining me has a lot more annimals than I do, a lot of poultry running loose, (not free ranging, just loose), you name it they have it. They get hit a lot by all of the predators, bears have gotten their llamas and goats, the poultry with the exception of the peacocks has dwindled from a couple hundred a few years ago, to a scattered few. I'm lucky in the fact the people are not afraid to dispatch the predators, good thing, they sure attract them over there! Keeps them out of my area! I also think that the fact I try to keep a "clear" zone around the house and pens, no weeds, no debris, no shrubs, just trees and nothing = no hiding places. I hope thats true anyway!

 

[Mom2Cool]

the bear problem here in NJ can't even be described. I'd just learned a little while ago that the other woman from the message board here who's having a bear issue with her chickens, ducks etc. lives in the same town as me maybe 5 minutes way. Imagine the problem we REALLY have if within the same month we've had attacks on 2 different yards with llive stock? I can guarentee there are more that just aren't on the message board that none of us will ever hear of..... I have personally counted 3 different sows from spring untill now & 1 of them has 2 cubs, another one has 4 & the largest group was the one in my yard with 5 cubs! That's 11 cubs in total & they're going to go where???? This is *JUST THIS YEAR* & doesn't even count the *groups of cubs* from prior years.... On theother side of town I believe there were another 2 sows with 2 & 3 cubs & this is only a small portion of OUR area it doesn't begin to count in Sussex & Warren counties.

The media here likes to report stories like this one

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26408431/?gt1=43001

that reads something like this.

"WYCKOFF, N.J. - If only Goldilocks had had a cockapoo.

A 15-pound cocker spaniel-poodle mix named Pawlee scared off a mother bear and her two cubs Sunday morning after they strayed into his owners' back yard."

And they only like to show these stories & if they show the other side it is *always slanted* by things like "the bear was feeling threatened & won't attack unless feeling PROVOKED". This would be like the answer to the man who was mauled (he lived) because he came to the aid of his dog who was being mauled & he literally jumped on the bears back. I know the guy should not have jumped it but the thing was mauling his dog! If he had taken out a gun & shot it they would fine him up the wazoo & that same bear group would be harrassing him & his *entire family* & he would be made out to be a criminal...... And so we're just going to *let it maul the dog*?

According to "B.E.A.R. Group there is no reason to do away with a bear or to have a hunt. The famers that have had so much damage it's putting them out of buisness, our BELOVED domestic animals & even human life comes 2nd to them.....


If the Dept. of Wildlife, fish, & Game came out here & put out a trap & shot the bear for me which they have done for others the bear group would be on it so fast heads would spin. They have the means & they will do this if a bear is destructive or seen as a danger & on TV THEY are made into the villians killing poor defenseless bears who are "just looking for food". The B.E.A.R. group would be driving by my house throwing things at us & setting up a cage trap & sitting in it with a fake wound pretending he/she is dead in "protest of this injustice".. They do NOT care what damage is done by a bear they want the bear alive at all costs.... & If anyone dares to try to raise concern about their kids or dogs they're told to "move back to the city".....

They're extremists who like to just fool the rest of the public. Now they're newest thing is talking about "birth control" for bears...??? That is their answer to the over population...


And yes Panner it's just a tragedy waiting to happen. Think of all the kids at bus stops this fall with lunch in their back packs..... And now I guess we're suppose to be telling them to be "bear smart" & not look the thing in the eye & "don't run"? You got why the getting was good as many others did & many more are doing.....

Ok I think I needed to get this out now I'm better & stepping down from my soap box...

 

[Cetawin]

I think we have all of the predators here...possum, skunk, coon, bear, mountain lion, fox and just recently a bobcat. You do what you can to protect your girls and dispatch when necessary.

The problem with the bear population is that there is limited hunting of them...when you do not properly manage the population and hunt appropriately, the bears populate. With the lack of good range for them, they must move into neighborhoods and so forth. It is becoming more and more prevailent.

The sooner the powers that be realize that a good balance must be kept, the sooner thse issues will correct themselves. When will they learn this? Probably never or at least not until they have 6 bears in lawn chairs residing in their backyard.

 

[andehens]

Seems like we have every predator here also, especially mt. lions, bobcats and bears, and if its not a predator its a pest! Gophers, wild pigs and so on. The property adjoining me has a lot more annimals than I do, a lot of poultry running loose, (not free ranging, just loose), you name it they have it. They get hit a lot by all of the predators, bears have gotten their llamas and goats, the poultry with the exception of the peacocks has dwindled from a couple hundred a few years ago, to a scattered few. I'm lucky in the fact the people are not afraid to dispatch the predators, good thing, they sure attract them over there! Keeps them out of my area! I also think that the fact I try to keep a "clear" zone around the house and pens, no weeds, no debris, no shrubs, just trees and nothing = no hiding places. I hope thats true anyway!

 

[andehens]

whoooooops, I'm learning, didn't mean to double post!

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Actually the only way the 2 chickens of mine that survived DID survive is that THEY had bushes & srubs to hide in... If you've got chickens & live stock you're at risk of the bears. I could protect my chickens from all the other preditors you'd mentioned but the door on their chicken coop would be a joke to a bear & the woman on the other side of town just had the bear do just that & rip it right off the hinge. Hers were not running loose but in a *secured hutch* & she had a baby monitor on it too. but you can catch them right there & be screaming at them & they're not done until *they're ready* & you get to *watch them eat your livestock* I've be happy for the brush for them to hide in.