Black Bears and Grizzlies

The bear population is increasing in Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. With black bears on the rise run-ins have become common place, more than 15,000 in the past year according to surveys by state wildlife agencies. The U.S. bear population more than doubled between 1989 and 2006, from 165,000 to 350,000.

Hungry bears raiding garbage cans and bird feeders are the most common culprits. But there have been human fatalities. Last year a male bear killed a 6 year old girl and injured her brother and mother who tried to fight the bear off. The attack occurred when the family was on a camping trip in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest.

Image via Wikipedia

In earlier years bears were fearful of humans because they were hunted animals but now they multiply in National Forest where no hunting is allowed and they have no fear of humans. In Kentucky, officials opened a hunting season on bears to reinforce their fear of humans. Bears are coming into neighborhoods where they have never been before and people are moving into areas where bears are plentiful. Both these things involve people with little experience living around bears. Some bears have become so fearless they dine on backyard fruit trees and raid pet food bowls.

Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife scientist for the Humane Society of the United States, said 14 people have been killed in attacks by black bears in North America since 2000, including two in Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the Cherokee National Forest. Another 10 people were killed by grizzlies during that time.

Bears have also become road hazards. Several bears have been hit and killed by cars in Georgia, including in Cobb and Gwinnett counties in Metro Atlanta. I was sure last summer that I heard a bear in the woods at the back of our apartment. There were loud snuffling noises that sounded to me like a bear would sound. I looked out from our balcony and didn’t see anything unusual and Lionel laughed when I told him about it, you know how men are. We heard later that a bear  was seen a couple of streets over from us so I still think it might have been a bear.

Image via Wikipedia

Writing about the bear population reminds me about a story my aunt Lois used to tell on herself and uncle Carl. As she told it they were traveling through the Great Smoky Mountains. At that time there were no rest stops and very little traffic on the road, when uncle Carl needed a rest stop he just pulled off the side of the road. Well,aunt Lois was sleeping in the back seat when uncle Carl stopped and got out of the car.

Aunt Lois woke up about that time and decided to get out too. She stepped over behind the car just as uncle Carl got in the car and drove off. She said she ran after the car yelling at him to stop but he kept going. She kept walking along the road watching for bears and there were bears in those mountains. Uncle Carl at some point looked in the back seat and saw Aunt Lois wasn’t there. He turned around and hurried back over the mountain not knowing what he would find. But there she was walking up the mountain road. Aunt Lois said she was so scared and mad she didn’t know whether to hug him or beat the life out of him.

http://www.trifter.com/USA-&-Canada/Georgia/The-Chattahoochee-Trail.711289

http://gomestic.com/Gardening/Spring-time-in-the-Lawn-and-Garden.691845

http://www.purpleslinky.com/Jokes/Jokes-You-Might-Hear-in-the-Mountains-But-Probably-Wont.184331