bit of a bear beef

Say that 10 times fast!

About 2 weeks ago, give or take a couple of days, hubby and the fellow that works with us saw a grizzly right close to the road. We usually get them up back and not down this low. They were a bit concerned as it was a tagged bear and they are usually bears that have caused trouble somewhere else. They had a difficult time making out the tag colour and number, but the bear let them get pretty close, so seemed used to humans.

Around the same time the neighbour came over and asked if we had seen a couple of billy goats he was missing. Didn't put 2 and 2 together at that stage though. 3 days later neighbour comes rushing over early Sunday morning and askes if we would like to see what a grizzly kill looks like.

Over we went to see 2 of his purebred rams gutted. They were right in their farm yard and obviously to large for the bear to get over the fences to take with it. They have kids that are true farm kids and all over all the time. They are so lucky the kids didn't go into the yard while the bear was still feeding.

Conservation guys come and put up a cage and some snares. Say if the bear is tagged it is a relocate and if it is killing it will be put down. This is a very bold bear coming over the next few days very close to humans to feed on bait, but not get caught. Cagey too obviously.

The neighbour also found the goats buried not to far away. I can say the kids were being kept very close to the house.

Bear was snared yesterday. This may upset some of you, but the neighbour shot it. The conservation guys wanted it left alive to do some testing on it, but he didn't want to risk it getting loose again. You could see the marks where it had been snared before the last time it was causing trouble.

This bear was tagged with a purple tag. Previously it was caught with 4 other bears that were killing sheep up north a bit, must have been close to Golden as that was the office on the back of the tag. 3 of the 5 were put down, but 2 were released as they thought they had not been involved in the killing.....WRONG! They were released in the Grampions (sp?) and by the look of this fellow he just kept traveling until he found his food of choice, sheep. He was not very big and was not in great condition. They figure he was around 2 years old. I can tell you he was big enough that I was glad I did not come face to face with him in the bush.

I ask you why do they release these bears when they have already caused trouble? I find this a really tough question to answer as I see both sides. I think wild animals are amazing creatures and I don't mind living in harmony with them. I do have trouble getting my head around why they would release a young boar into a new territory (which I would think mature males would chase him out of) to wander back into what he knows which is humans mean a food source.

I guess we are kind of lucky at the neighbours misfortune. We always say he has a smorgasbord over there (sheep, goats, turkey, geese) why would anything come over here just to get bulls, fat steers or horses (all we have at this time of year)?

I know it is probably a hot topic, but would love to hear your opinions about this.

Yikes! I spent many a day at your neighbors house, and in the old farmhouse that was on your property, Coopslave. I was best friends with their daughter.
I don't blame G for shooting that bear. Problem bear that has obviously lost his respect for humans and their living areas.

Yes Katuski, he wasn't too impressed.

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It is a tough one Tara. I generally don't have a problem with bears, we have tons of blacks that are all around us in the spring until they go higher. Never seem to have trouble with them.

I guess what I didn't like about this guy was his braiseness (is that even a word? ). They learn that by being around humans I think. If sheep are out in a field and they get taken, it is bad, but when they are right in the farm yard, feet from the house, I do have trouble with that. I guess they are not afraid of anything and are at the top of the food chain.

I know they are losing their habitat and we don't want to lose them.

They are such and important part of the eco system. I am not sure what the right answers are, I just hope the buddy he was released with doesn't make its way here too.

That would be "brazenness"; a trait shared by bears, mink and racoons. And many others, including people.

I stand corrected.

In a way, this is yet another form of selection; the brazen ones are eventually culled, and the cautious scaredy-cats roam free because they go out of their way to avoid people. These bears that have learned that people and easy food go together sadly will never "unlearn" it. They should be culled, for safety sake.
There are many bears that would have passed through, stayed high to avoid trouble. These bears we never hear about because they avoid confrontations. As their natural territory shrinks, so must the population, unfortunate for sure.
This hits a note with me because I am familiar with the people involved. Their are kids on this farm the same age as mine. And ranching is this family's only livelihood; no oilfield jobs to support the farm. I know that the goats and sheep he raises provide a substantial chunk of their yearly earnings. I know this because he has tried to persuade my DH to get goats/sheep instead of cattle on the basis that they are more profitable than cows these days. Anyhow, by knowing the inside story I dont feel much regret that the grizzly had to go.

Just now I pretty much came nose to nose with a bear. It was darkish. We live in thick bush/brush/trees. At this time of night everything is all dark shadows. I am lumbering to the hen house for one check when I notice a dark blob near the hen house. Not unusual. Everything is a dark blob in this light. However this dark blob had ears. Very bear-like ears. Thank god he was back lit just enough that I noticed the ears or I literally would have walked right into him.

The bear did NOT move. I stopped and he just stayed right where he was. Oddly, he was laying down and he was BIG! I hollered, expecting him to jump and run, but he did not, he stayed right where he was, ears in my direction. I briefly considered removing my rubber boot and hurling it at him, but discretion is the better part of valour, so I retreated. Brain dead dog did NOT notice bear. (dog looking for new home)

We've had bears here every year for all the 20 years we've lived here. We have only ever had to call in the conservation guys once and it was an extreme case of a very bold and habituated mother with her two cubs. She destroyed my secondary hen house twice, tore up the interior of the main hen house, and left claw marks on the butt of one of our horses. I did feel bad having those bears trapped and shot. But...I did what I could to drive her off and she would not leave. Stood and huffed at me! Several times a day.

We are in their territory? Says who? Where is MY territory? Am I not allowed some space to exist on this planet? Why is every human/animal encounter blamed on humans being in the animal's territory? We go out of our way to make our place as unappealing to bears as we can, and that is the obligation of everyone who lives in bear country. However, there is no shortage of bush in this country and no shortage of deer, rabbits and wild feed. No bear needs to come to my hen house because he has been starved out. No, he comes because it is easy peasy to pick off those fat, sitting hens, neatly and considerately packaged for his dining pleasure. So beyond doing my part to never be the reason a bear is destroyed, I will not be an apologist for the small amount of space I have claimed as my own on this planet.

People are stupid and many bears might move on if people didn't invite them in with garbage, cat food, compost piles and bird seed. We make our place a no-bear zone, and we sic the dog on all bears (if idiot dog actually notices the bear!)But when bully bear does not move on, sometimes there is little to do but destroy the animal.

When a bear gets that brazen, he is a risk to the safety of people as well as livestock. To my way of thinking, the only safe way is to put it down. Glad it didn't get any of your livestock and now it won't be a threat to others in a new area had it just gotten moved again.

I think that the safety of all should be the first concern ! Any bear that has lost it's fear of man is a threat and should be looked at that way .I think it would be a great shame if we were to side with the bear and say that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time ( person, child )and someone pays the price for it ? I hunt and even if I'm in there neck of the woods If I see a bear ,etc , and it looks at me in a threating way ? well there isn't much left to do but take care of it .Wild animals that come into a populated area ( doesn't matter if it's two houses or a hundred ) have decided that they would rather take the easy road and for them the end result is normally death ! We have somehow come to a conclusion that we should live in harmony with wildlife ,and if it's a cute little deer with it's fawn it works ,but throw in a bear or wolf and it does change the whole picture .I run into animal rights people every year and it's amazeing how ingnorant they are to facts ! Right now I have something coming in and killing my chickens and turkeys and I can tell you I won't be sideing with the critter ! if it has a litter that it's feeding then I hope I get the care givers of them and they can die as well ,I will never tolerate animals that come and take whats mine from me .We have bear walking through now and then and If I see it .........well it will be staying and becomeing part of the food chain !

Chores this morning revealed that Mr. Bear had clawed at the door into the hen yard, ripped off the latch, the door was wide open. The two feeders were tossed and tipped, the birds were out. No birds are missing, everyone is fine.

It was lucky for me that I had no scratch in the feeders. Bears LOVE corn! If there had been scratch I would have a problem on my hands and probably a lot more destruction as Mr. Bear went searching for more of it. However, bears do not like lay pellets, will not eat them and since that was all he found, he went away unimpressed. I hope since he did not find anything yummy, that he won't bother my hen house again.

BUt I tell you, it adds a certain tension to chore time knowing a bear could be 15 feet away from me in the bush and I wouldn't see him. I do not make a move until I have scanned the area with my failing eyes. I hope every morning that the horses are waiting at the fence to greet me and not dead in a heap. I don't think a bear would attack an adult horse, but the yearling is small and scrawny and snack size, if you're a big bear.

We do not bother the bears for being here, they always are. As long as they move off when we shout or make noise. As long as avoid us, and don't hang around, we don't mess with them. A bear that does not fear us though, is a bear that needs watching!

Geez Uno, I was wondering what you were going to wake up to this morning. Sounds like good and bad news. I hope it moves on for you.
I think we don't have trouble with them here because of the dogs. Even though they are kenneled they have their scent everywhere and will sound the alarm if anything is around.
Uno, you need a better dog!!!

mmmmmmmmmm brazened bear.....

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Oh those bears!

We have a lot of bears here. Especially in the fall. I have a big loud cow bell right by the door that we ring when we go out in the fall and a neighbor just gave me a huge triangle to hang on my chicken house so I can ring that when I leave it. Usually if you ring it, the bears will move so you can see them. (But we had one last year that wouldn't leave, not even when I went out and yelled.) Bad Bear.

Last fall I had a bear cub run by me in the dark on my way from shutting the chickens in for the night. Talk about scare me! It ran in between me and the house. Didn't see Mama but She was probably close by.

This year we have lots of bears in the neighbor hood already. Some of our neighbors use bear bangers a lot. I think they use them too much because the bears are so used to the sound of loud noises now and don't always run away. One neighbor has moved on using air horns.

The Guinea Fowl were great at sounding alarm if a bear came in the yard.