our unfriendly bear

octagon · May 30, 2009, 04:40:21 PM

paid us a visit early this morning, he or she walked all thru the garden even right along side of the rabbit hutches(all with rabbits in them) and past one hive to a hive by its self. he scattered the last hive all over the place and took some frames into the woods for a party. I have pictures and will post when someone that know how stops in. This guy was a small bear acording to the tracks. everyday i kept saying that i was going to set out my motion dectors and the radio to scare them off.

Wes Sapp · May 30, 2009, 08:14:26 PM

Electric fence!!!

the kid · May 31, 2009, 12:26:15 AM

hang some bacon on the wire ,, you want to let him , her , know that its there ,.
others have said when a bear gets a taste of a hive ,, the electric fence ,seldom stops them , but a bit of electric bacon gets the point home .. turn off the fence before putting the bacon on ,then turn it back on ,,, one that I told to do this ..said they kept getting shocks putting it on the wire

octagon · May 31, 2009, 02:19:54 AM

the bear came back out of the woods about 7 last night, I had put out 2 motion detectors with lights and radios pluged into them and i was out there beating on an oil barrel with a board, the bear went back in the woods and he is a little guy. Later though, about 10:30 the dogs started barking so we looked out to the field, all the lights and the radios were on and the bear was having another meal with music and lights. Today i'll have to spend the 125.for an eletric fencer, I don't want to go thru this every day and i want the bear to be on his way, back up in the village wrecking bird feeders and harrassing the towneys. the cops was chasing one up on main st friday night, i think they chased him down here.

JP · May 31, 2009, 08:49:30 AM

Every now and again we hear about bears on here and ideas to get them to go away.

What about a system built into the hive, such as an electrical hive? Bears are active mostly at night right and bees aren't.

You could turn the power on at night, even on a timer, bear touches hive gets shocked.

...JP

Wes Sapp · May 31, 2009, 11:01:00 AM

Quote from: JP on May 31, 2009, 08:49:30 AM
Bears are active mostly at night right and bees aren't.
...JP

Not according to this: http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=168&Itemid=38
Daily Activity Period: Most bears become active a half-hour before sunrise, take a nap or two during the day, and bed down for the night an hour or two after sunset. However, some bears are active at night to avoid people or bears.
I personally don't buy that. I've had a LOT of pictures of bears on a game camera tearing down my corn feeders and the one I posted is the only one during the day!
And then I found this: http://www.americanbear.org/blackbearfacts.htm
Bear attacks on humans are extremely rare. A person is 180 times more likely to be killed by a bee... (Intresting)
I was trying to find were I had read (which I couldn't) once a bear finds food they never forget were it's located.

MacfromNS · May 31, 2009, 11:02:40 AM

JP if you let the bear get all the to the hive before he gets shocked
he may do so damage at the last minute just trying to get out
of there. I don't have bear problem yet but my 30-06 said they
only have one chance.

octagon · May 31, 2009, 01:32:17 PM

Quote from: Wes Sapp on May 31, 2009, 11:01:00 AM
Quote from: JP on May 31, 2009, 08:49:30 AM
Bears are active mostly at night right and bees aren't.
...JP
Not according to this: http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=168&Itemid=38
Daily Activity Period: Most bears become active a half-hour before sunrise, take a nap or two during the day, and bed down for the night an hour or two after sunset. However, some bears are active at night to avoid people or bears.
I personally don't buy that. I've had a LOT of pictures of bears on a game camera tearing down my corn feeders and the one I posted is the only one during the day!
And then I found this: http://www.americanbear.org/blackbearfacts.htm
Bear attacks on humans are extremely rare. a person is 180 times more likely to be killed by a bee... (Intresting)
I was trying to find were I had read (which I couldn't) once a bear finds food they never forget were it's located.

you wouldn't want them touching the hive, they could tip it over to easy, they have to be stopped before they get to the hive.. I just spent 184.00 for a fencer,wire,posts, tonight, he's in for the shock of his life. the fencer that i got is good for 25 miles and is for preditors so I know that it will be real hot on a 150 ft run.

JhnR · May 31, 2009, 07:43:01 PM

How would you like these for neighbors?

John

JhnR · June 01, 2009, 07:59:34 PM

A beautiful sunny day. Home from work at 4:00pm and wanted to check on the 10 hives....decided to look into the two weaker ones....turned off the solar fencer, went to the house to change and start the smoker.
I heard some noise outside..thought it was my neighbor but his truck was not in the driveway...oh well...lit the smoker and went to the hives to find two overturned ....he/she did not go through the wire but reached way over the top to grab the hives...must have been here before...I'll bet he/she was sitting in the woods watching me and saw the switch turned off...we grow them smart in NH. .. and I'm sure they will return....Yup...different size tracks.. I now have half a pig (bacon) hanging from the wires....but the cubs are cute..

bassman1977 · June 01, 2009, 09:43:49 PM

Quote from: JhnR on May 31, 2009, 07:43:01 PM
How would you like these for neighbors?

John

Holy smokes...that's Big Nasty with her cubs!!! Is that a picture from around your place?

JhnR · June 02, 2009, 05:35:53 PM

These bears live further north and were taken by someone else....this is a picture of the family a year later

The cub in the tree was one of three with mama taken from my back deck. I think my intruder got the point (jolt)....we will see

Can you imagine the size of the den mama needed for five yearling cubs?? Both pictures were taken in early spring.

John

bassman1977 · June 02, 2009, 07:55:18 PM

Those are awesome pictures. I've never seen a bear aside from pictures and one that my neighbor shot. I thought the cubs stayed with mama for only a year. I am going to look that up and see for sure. Apparently I am wrong or the ones you posted are just an exception maybe.

JP · June 02, 2009, 09:26:02 PM

I'd probably try making friends with them being the animal lover that I am and just make the problem that much worse.

We'd all be sopping up honey and biscuits with scrambled eggs and bacon every Sunday morning, all at the kitchen table!

What would the code people say about that!

Too bad you can't find a harmonious relationship, they sure are handsome looking devils and those cubs are really cute.

...JP

Robo · June 03, 2009, 09:29:40 AM

Quote from: JP on June 02, 2009, 09:26:02 PM
Too bad you can't find a harmonious relationship, they sure are handsome looking devils and those cubs are really cute.

I now live in harmony with my electric fence and the bears. Have to have the electric fence (baited with peanut butter 1/month) around my chicken coop and bees, but at least me and the bears live peacefully now. Can't say it is the same for my neighbors, cause I still see bear droppings full of sunflower hulls (ah another neighbors bird feeder) and the aftermath of someone deciding to put their garbage out for pickup early.

It was just a year or so ago that NY had its first case of a person being killed by a bear. It was actually an infant left in stroller in the yard. Some speculate the bear smelled baby formula or food on it.

BTW, bears are quite active during the day, more than onces I have been working in the garden only to hear someone approaching and turn to find a bear :-D Of course once they see you, they meander away, they aren't interested in confrontations as long as you don't get between them and the cubs.

JhnR · June 03, 2009, 07:17:04 PM

Here is the story behind mama and the five little bears...

Black bears typically have two cubs; rarely, one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire , a black bear Sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs, but five was, and is, extraordinary. I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom - no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks, I had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunityand photographed them. I used the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed, with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them, and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal.

After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.

This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007.

I saw them before mid-April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once-in-a-lifetime photograph

On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.

When something as magical as this happens between man and animal, Native Americans say, 'We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.'

And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.

Sincerely, Tom Sears

I went to the hives at four this morning before leaving for work. I used a small LED flashlight I keep in my pocket.....all looked good so I turned to walk to my truck and heard a noise/russel? Ten yards to my right...yes, the same large pine of the single cub pic....I saw and heard a bear/ROAR at the same instant.
Now..at this time in the morning my body/mind is not a full functioning unit. Why is it that grown men can instantly regress to a MUCH younger age??? I guess all that adrenalin burned another layer from my blood vessels. After a few roars he/she goes into the baby cub sounds....now I feel for the hungry cub... I will lay two feet of chicken wire around the hives and attach this to the ground system....UPDATE...I get home from work at four pm and WHOM do I see...yup...this cub ate most of my spare drawn comb,,I HAD 25 suppers on pallets w/mostly undrawn frames....now it's ALL undrawn....4 am update coming at 4 am...

John

bassman1977 · June 04, 2009, 05:16:47 PM

Nice post! Anticipating the update to go something like "the wife and I are having bear for dinner tonight..." :lau:

JhnR · June 04, 2009, 05:44:51 PM

Well....I was way to tired at 4 am to update..........this yearling probably weighs around 150 or so and decided to try a swan dive off a nearby pine tree. Almost made it....almost. Landed on the side of a five box hive just enough to tip it into the next hive....not to bad........but it got tangled in the wire fence. By the looks of the ground and the wire..heeheeee...he was attached for about thirty feet. I wounder how many times he/she was reminded to stay away.

This started at 11:30 last night....I put the hive back together and will check for a queen later...but it took some time to fix the fence because of the tears and laughter....what the hell did I land on..OUCH...I don't like this...OUCH....RUN..RUN..OUCH...darn bees...OUCH

John