They’re baaaack! Seldom seen and rarely heard, but increasingly common in Harvard, bears are on the move at this time of year. The first notification that most residents get of a bear’s presence near their home is an overturned garbage can, a scattered compost pile, or a shattered bird feeder.
Bird feeders were the casualty last Monday at Joe Hutchinson and Patti Anklam’s home on Westcott Road. As Hutchinson described the incident, “Patti and I came down to the dining room table this morning to have breakfast, watch the birds, chat about the day, and lo, no birds…and no feeder!”
Their backyard feeder had been mounted on a sturdy metal pole anchored in concrete. It was simply gone. Hutchinson then went to the front yard and found their other feeder “literally in pieces.”
‘Yup, it’s the bear’
When he phoned the Harvard dispatcher, he learned he was not alone. He says the dispatcher told him, “Yup, it’s the bear. We advise people in your neighborhood to keep their bird feeders in for the next couple of weeks because the bears are getting ready to hibernate and are feeding . . . and they really like bird seed.”
Dispatcher Pat Natoli told the Press that the police get reports of bear depredations and sightings every year around this time. She said the number of reports is not unusually high this year. They have been concentrated in the Westcott Road area and in the Littleton/Old Littleton roads area, Natoli said. But bears have also visited other parts of town.
Animal control officer Paul Willard says that he has received only one call about a bear so far this year, and that was from a Tahanto Trail resident. But he also heard about a “big bear” seen near Slough Road.
David Kay, who tracks and observes wildlife, suspects it was a bear that forced its way through the deer fence at his Massachusetts Avenue residence, as a neighbor recently saw one nearby. And Bill Calderwood of Woodchuck Hill Road is certain that the grunting, heavily breathing large animal that he heard moving through the gully near his house in the middle of the night last June was a bear. (Calderwood also warns that bears may sprint across roads, posing a danger to drivers.)
A population rising 8% per year
It’s not surprising that residents are seeing more evidence of bears’ presence. Massachusetts was home to about 3,000 black bears in 2005, when the last detailed study took place, up from just 100 in 1970. The state Department of Fisheries and Wildlife estimates that the bear population is increasing by about 8 percent a year.
According to the department’s website, “Bears have good long-term memory and are capable of recalling the location of periodic food sources years after the first visit.” So if your compost pile or feeders were raided once, you can expect another visit in the future.
Like raccoons, bears seem able to defeat many of the devices that humans hope will thwart them, either by persistence or brute force. Wikipedia states, “Black bears are highly dexterous, being capable of opening screw-top jars and manipulating door latches. They also have great physical strength. Even bear cubs have been known to turn over flat-shaped rocks weighing 310 to 325 pounds (140 to 147 kg) by flipping them over with a single foreleg.”
Around-the-clock foragers
During the fall, bears may forage almost around the clock, up to 20 hours a day, as they put on a third more body weight in preparation for hibernation. Also, young male bears are on the move, seeking a home range that isn’t already claimed by an older, larger bear. These male yearlings usually weigh about 100 to 125 pounds. A full-grown male may weigh 600 pounds, but the average weight in Massachusetts is only(!) 230 pounds, with females averaging 140 pounds.
So how can you prevent your bird food from becoming bear food? The American Bear Association advises putting feeders on a wire 10 feet above the ground, running between two firmly anchored posts. Their diagram shows a winch to raise and lower the feeder to its lofty perch above the bear’s (and your) reach.
Will that keep your feeders safe? Well, bearly.
