Items tagged with 'bears'
Bear cub rescue
Because it's video of a bear cub being rescued. From the state Department of Environmental Conservation FB page:
[Tuesday] morning, Environmental Conservation Officer Anthony Glorioso was called to Windham Mountain Village (WMV) in the town of Windham where a bear cub was stuck in a tree high above ground. With the assistance of a local construction company's boom crane, Officer Glorioso went 65 feet up to get a better look at the situation. The officer attempted to free the cub but quickly saw his neck was stuck. Once the "v" was cut out of the tree using a chain saw, Officer Glorioso grabbed the cub and brought it into the bucket. As soon as the bucket came down, the cub ran back into the wooded area.
The Watershed Post talked with the townhouse development's property manager about the situation -- the bear had been stuck in the tree since Monday and had been calling for its mother.
"Chasing bears through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet is strongly not advised"
Farther afield, an important message from the North Adams (Massachusetts) Police Department, as posted on its Facebook page:
The North Adams Police Department is urging everyone to NOT chase bears through the woods with a dull hatchet, drunk. Yes that really did happen tonight. We understand there are bears in the area. If you see a bear, LEAVE IT ALONE and call us. We certainly don't need anyone going all Davy Crockett chasing it through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet. It is just a bad idea and not going to end well. It will however, certainly end you up in jail...which it did. The hatchet man was taken into protective custody due to his incapacitation from the consumption of alcoholic beverage. We are still trying to figure out what his end game was. Any thoughts on what he was going to do if he did locate it? We would certainly like to hear because we have no idea.
Here's a little bit more context from the Berkshire Eagle. We just... you know... no words.
Things really are a little bit different over on that side of the border.
[via Jon Campbell]
Earlier on AOA:
+ Report: Woman stabbed bear in the Adirondacks
+ Don't feed the bears
photo adapted from original by Flickr user peupleloup (cc)
The Albany bear falls to the ground
A still from a video clip shortly after the bear fell from the tree.
Updated 5:10 pm
The black bear that had been caught in a tree in Albany since Tuesday fell to the ground Wednesday just before 1 pm after being hit with tranquilizer darts. The state Department of Environmental Conservation reported later Wednesday afternoon that the bear had been euthanized.
A statement from DEC director of media relations Emily DeSantis:
The state Department of Environmental Conservation strives to relocate wildlife in situations where they enter urban and suburban settings. In this case, wildlife biologists determined this course of action is more humane and necessary to preserve public safety because of the bear's injuries and its history of returning to urban and suburban settings.
The video still above is from the scene just after the bear hit the ground. A witness sent the video to AOA -- the full clip is posted after the jump (thank you, Dawn). While not graphic, the video is a bit hard to watch knowing the context.
Yep, that's a bear, in Albany
Update Wednesday 5:10 pm: DEC says the bear has been euthanized. Here's video of the bear after it fell to the ground, and a bit more about the timeline leading up to the situation.
Update Wednesday 1 pm: The bear is out of the tree and being taken to a DEC facility in Delmar, its future uncertain. [@HRViccaro - Daily Gazette]
Update Tuesday night: DEC says the bear has been identified as a nuisance bear and will be killed. [TU]
____
A young bear got caught in tree in Albany's Whitehall neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Officers from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Albany Police Department had gathered to keep watch on the bear, which was shifting a bit in the tree but otherwise not moving.
Word was that the bear had been hit with a tranquilizer gun and officers were waiting for it climb down and/or fall out. (That's pretty much the standard procedure in these situations.) APD spokesman Steve Smith said they'd gotten the first call about the bear after a sighting in the Mt. Hope neighborhood on Albany's South Side this morning, but he had heard the DEC had been tracking it from Bethlehem.
The bear showed up in the tree between Rose Court and Clayton Place around noon (map). It was estimated to to weight less than 200 pounds, and it was high up in an evergreen tree -- maybe 60 feet.
What usually happens when a bear is captured in one of these areas: it's checked out by DEC and if it's in OK shape it's relocated to a more bear-appropriate habitat. (The process isn't always so happy if the bear has wandered into human populated areas on previous occasions.)
It's not all that uncommon for a bear cub to show up in Albany or more urban parts of the Capital Region.
Report: Woman stabbed bear in the Adirondacks
This is intense. From an article in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise by Mike Lynch (map link added):
The DEC has heard of several incidents of nuisance bears between Wakely Dam and Stephens Pond in the town of Indian Lake.
In one encounter, which took place Wednesday, Sept. 18, three bears followed a woman hiking alone, according to the DEC. The woman made several attempts to scare the animals away, but they continued to follow her. One bear, in particular, got very close to the woman near Stephens Pond.
"Feeling threatened she stabbed the bear with a knife," according to a DEC statement.
The bears then fled, and the woman safely hiked to the state-run Lake Durant Campground.
Bears usually run off when humans attempt to scare them. In this case, the DEC tells the Daily Enterprise it might be a case of the bears getting food from hikers in the past.
As we've mentioned before: Don't feed the bears. Really. Not only is illegal, it also usually ends up hurting the bear.
Here's a DEC info page on how to avoid bears and what to do if you encounter one.
[via AP/Post-Star]
Some history: The last person in New York State to be killed by a bear was in 2002 in an odd incident in which a young bear dragged a 5-month-old human into the woods in Sullivan County. Before that, the last human death by the paw of a bear was in 1933 when an 11-year-old on Long Island was killed by a bear tied up in front of an inn. Of course there have been other non-fatal encounters, including a 2011 incident in which a woman in Greene County was knocked down by a bear. And in recent years bears have been wandering into more urban areas of the Capital Region. [CBS News] [Wikipedia] [TU]
In other wildlife news: The DEC captured a moose in Halfmoon today. DEC says he's being transported to the Adirondacks. [TU] [NYS DEC]
photo of a black bear -- NOT the black bear: Flickr user peupleloup (cc)
The North Greenbush bear lands, softly
All this attention? For me?
After spending most of Wednesday hanging out in a tree, the North Greenbush bear finally came down shortly after 4 pm. It wasn't by choice -- he had been hit with a tranquilizer dart -- but it was a soft landing, apparently.
"This guy went down pretty good," said NYS DEC police lieutenant Jim Hays shortly after the landing. Hays said the bear appeared to hit the ground softly while zonked on tranquilizers. "They're like a big bowl of jello when they land."
The black bear had climbed a a large tree in the front yard of a house on Meadow Dr, just across Williams Road from the North Greenbush Town Park. DEC had originally planned to let the bear come down on his own. But after he seemed content to sit in the tree for hours, DEC decided it was time to move things along.
Hays said they were worried about the situation becoming a public safety issue. Williams Road was filling with rush hour traffic. A large crowd of media and onlookers had gathered just on the other side of road. And Hays said people had started to circle around the scene for a better look, cutting off potential escape routes for the bear.
This most recent bear is the third one captured in the the core Capital Region in the last couple of weeks -- the other two were in Albany and Schenectady. There was also a bear
"We need to learn how to live with them," Hays said, describing Albany and Rensselaer counties as bear country. "They're not going to go away."
As with the other recently captured bears, DEC will keep the North Greenbush bear overnight for observation. If he checks out OK, Hays says they'll take him some place more bear appropriate and release him.
There are a bunch of photos from today's scene after the jump.
Bear captured in south Albany
This guy had a tough night -- he was tranquilized and fell out of a tree.
Updated Wednesday 4 pm
Albany police say they got a call about a bear in Albany's south end last night. From the press release:
Police were called to the 200 block of Mount Hope Drive, after a resident called stating a black bear was seen eating out of a bird feeder. Police arrived and observed a 175 pound black bear wandering through the yards. Police followed the bear and set up a perimeter in the rear of 156 Mount Hope Drive after the bear had climbed a tree.
The New York State Environmental Conservation Police responded and was able to get the bear out of the tree safely using a specialized tranquilizer. The bear was taken to the Environmental Conservation Building in Schenectady where it was evaluated by their medical staff. The bear is currently healthy and is expected to be released into the wild sometime later this afternoon.
Mount Hope Drive is near the end of 787, not too far from the Bethlehem line (map).
An update from state Department of Environmental Conservation's Rick Georgeson:
A 175-pound, two-year-old male bear was tranquilized in the city of Albany by DEC Environmental Conservation Officers last night around 9 p.m. The bear fell approximately 50 feet out of a tree in the vicinity of South Pearl St. and Interstate 787.
The bear is being evaluated at the Stamford DEC office to determine if it sustained any injuries from its fall. If the bear is healthy, it will be released in the Catskills. If it sustained serious injuries, it will have to be euthanized.
We do not know where the bear came from.
Update: Georgeson says the bear appears to be in good condition and will be released in the Catskill Forest Preserve on Thursday.
That's a photo of the bear above, via the DEC.
New York State's 2011 bear "harvest"
The state Department of Environmental Conservation reports there were 1258 bears killed by hunters in New York in 2011. That's up about 18 percent from 2010 -- and higher than the five-year average (1,152) -- but short of the record on the books (1864 bears in 2003).
Last year's total did include a record number for the sub area that covers part of the Capital Region. The DEC attributes the record to bear hunting being opened in counties stretching from Rockland and Westchester counties north to Washington County. The cover of the DEC report includes a photo of a hunter with a bear killed in Columbia County, which the agency says might have been the first bear taken in the county since the 1800s.
Capital Region
There were 26 bears killed in the Capital Region's core counties last year: Albany (4), Rensselaer (11), Saratoga (11).
Counties in the greater Capital Region: Columbia (10), Greene (68), Schoharie (19), Washington (20), Warren (27).
In recent years DEC has said that bear populations in the state are "thriving."
By the way: the word used by the DEC to describe a year's take of bears (and deer) is "harvest" -- which makes sense. But it always makes us think of a field of bears growing in rows. And we suspect the bears have a different word for it.
Earlier on AOA: Don't feed the bears
photo: Flickr user peupleloup
Bears -- guilty until proven... dead?
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has set up a bear trap near the northern Greene County home of the woman who was knocked down by a bear Wednesday. A DEC spokesman tells the TU that the agency will kill the first large adult bear it catches in the trap -- even though they can't be sure they'll get the bear that attacked the woman. [AP/Fox23] [Daily Mail] [TU]
So, bears apparently do not enjoy due process. And the policy seems so blunt (and, you know, kind of vengeful) that we almost wonder if something got mixed up in its communication. Because what if DEC catches a bear, kills it, and then another bear (perhaps the bear) comes back and harasses someone again. Does DEC set another trap, and kill another bear (and so on and so on) until the bear encounters stop?
And get this: a 2002 survey conducted for DEC of New York State residents north of NYC reported that more than half of respondents disagreed that bears who repeatedly caused problems for people should be killed -- and the survey even noted that "identifying specific problem bears can be difficult." About 65 percent of respondents said they supported relocating problem bears after negative conditioning. (Here's more info from the DEC about black bear management.)
Bears that become habituated to humans are a serious problem. And it's a problem that humans often help cause (that's not to say that's what happened in this most recent case). As Roland Kays, the State Museum's curator of mammals, explained to us a few years back:
So please don't feed the animals. You're causing problems for all your neighbors. And by trying to help the animal, you could end up getting it killed. What happens is that a bear becomes a nuisance and it gets shot. And the person whose fault that was was the person who started feeding it.
It's illegal to feed bears in New York State -- even indirectly, if you've been given notice.
The DEC reported last month that black bear populations are "thriving" in the state and "represent a great resource for all New Yorkers."
Update: The woman was attacked told Fox23 that she thinks the bear should not be killed.
Earlier on AOA: Foxes and fishers and bears, oh my!
photo: Flickr user peupleloup
Bears. In the bag.
The DEC reports that 1,064 bears were "harvested" in New York State last year. That's down about 400 from 2009 (the second-highest total year on record), but it's just about the average number during the past 10 years.
There were eight reported bear kills in the core Capital Region last year. Five in Saratoga County -- four in Hadley, one in Edinburg. And the other three were in Albany County -- one each in Berne, Rensselaerville and Westerlo. There were 21 in the Capital Region in 2009, and 17 in 2008.
A little farther out in 2010: Greene County (49), Schoharie (14), Warren (34), Washington (1).
The DEC says black bears are "thriving" in the state and "represent a great resource for all New Yorkers." No word on how the bears feel about that, but sources within the ursa administration report they'd feel a lot better about it if they were also allowed to have guns.
Oh, deer: The DEC also reported today that more than 230,000 deer were killed by hunters in the state last year.
Earlier on AOA: Don't feed the bears
photo: Flickr user peupleloup
Don't feed the bears
Once just a bad idea, feeding bears in New York State is now against the law. From the DEC:
Specifically, the regulation bans intentional feeding of black bears, and, after previous written notice from DEC, also prohibits incidental or indirect feeding of black bears through food attractants such as garbage, refuse or bird seed. The regulation grants DEC the authority to require removal of these and other food attractants when bears become problematic.
The DEC reported last year that bear populations in the state are growing. And every year a few wander into parts of the Capital Region where you wouldn't necessarily expect them (hello, Troy and Delmar).
Feeding the bears -- or any wild animal -- sets up everyone up for problems. As Roland Kays, the curator of mammals at the State Museum, told us a few years back:
The other thing that can drive populations really high is feeding the animals. It's really important that people appreciate the animals and the rare glimpses they get, but not feed them because that causes numerous problems. You know, if you have a coyote that's used to coming into a backyard looking for food, then maybe it goes into your neighbor's backyard and they have a one-year-old kid or a dog or cat and you potentially have a problem. That hasn't been a big problem here, but it has in other regions with coyotes.
So please don't feed the animals. You're causing problems for all your neighbors. And by trying to help the animal, you could end up getting it killed. What happens is that a bear becomes a nuisance and it gets shot. And the person whose fault that was was the person who started feeding it.
And keep an eye on those picnic baskets -- we understand the smarter-than-average bears have a keen interest in them.
photo: Flickr user peupleloup
Bears and eagles
Ursus americanus
Updated Wednesday 4:55 pm
The state Department of Environment Conservation reported that the number of bears "harvested" in 2009 was the second-highest total on record. The DEC says hunters killed 1,487 black bears last year -- that's up 15 percent from the year before.
Most of the bears were killed in the Adirondacks, Catskills and Southern Tier -- but there were 21 kills in the four core counties of the Capital Region. Nineteen bears were taken in Saratoga County (including on in the Town of Saratoga) and two in Albany County (in Berne and Westerlo). That's up from 17 in the core Capital Region in 2008.
DEC says bear populations in New York State are growing.
Eagles: The DEC also reported this week that "preliminary results indicate that the bald eagle population in New York State may be at an all-time high since the state began its repopulation efforts more than 30 years ago."
Jackie spotted two bald eagles on the frozen Moreau Lake in January.
[via @woodzepper]
Earlier on AOA: Foxes and fishers and bears, oh my!
photo: Flickr user peupleloup
Foxes and fishers and bears, oh my!
A moose at the Saratoga Race Course in June.
Where are the wild things? Lately, it seems the answer is here. And by here, we mean our backyard. And your backyard.
Over the last month, there have been moose sightings in Saratoga and East Greenbush, a bear spotted in Troy and reports of rabid foxes. Every few weeks someone drops into AOA to post a comment about a fisher sighting. And we seem to be hearing about coyotes a lot more, too.
So, what's going on? We called up Roland Kays, the mammal curator at the New York State Museum, for some answers. He studies urban wildlife.
Roland says some of these sightings are probably just part of the cycle of young animals heading out on their own for the first time. But he says there's a bigger story here, too: wild animals are moving into our neighborhoods. And that's a good thing.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?