Be ready for still more bears rifling trash

SALISBURY — Black bears are back in Connecticut, Paul Rego from the Wildlife Division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) told a standing-room only crowd at the Scoville Memorial Library on Saturday afternoon, March 30.

That’s not news for most Northwest Corner residents. But what is more suprising is that the heaviest population of the ursines is not in this part of the state. 

Yes, they like the woods

The primary reason for the reappearance of bears is the regrowth of the state’s forests. 

Rego said that by 1850 only 20 percent of the state was forested (compared to almost 100 percent at the beginning of the Colonial period, around 1650).

The last bear reported killed in Connecticut was, for a long time, in 1840, in Goshen.

Deforestation occurred for agriculture, for industry and more recently, for housing.

Bears are dependent on forests, Rego said. 

And bears are picky about their forests. New growth forest isn’t much better than open fields from the bear’s point of view. 

Older forests with bigger trees provide more food and cover for denning.

So as forests have gradually reclaimed open fields, bears have gradually moved down from the north, especially western Massachusetts.

Rego said that currently Connecticut is about 65 percent forested land — not all of which is appropriate for bears.

But they really like to eat

He showed the audience a map that showed recent statistics on bear populations in the state. Interestingly, the areas around the Farmington River (some remote, some populated) and points south and east (greater human density)  have more bears than the Northwest Corner.

One explanation for that is that bears are intelligent and adaptable animals. They have discovered that where there are humans, there are bird feeders and garbage cans, filled with food.

Not to mention decks and porches, which can look like a nice place to spend the winter to a bear.

And even in densely populated suburban and urban environments, there are enough patches of decent bear habitat to make human-bear interactions likely.

Numbers could double soon

Thus the dramatic increase in bear sightings reported to DEEP,  from 25 in 1995, to 500 in 1999, more than 1,000 in 2003, 3,000 in 2009, almost 7,000 in 2016 and more than 9,000 last year.

Rego said even assuming that some of the increase is due to more people taking the time to make a report, it is still apparent that the bears have made a comeback.

Another measurement is the number of bears hit and/or killed by cars. That has gone from one case in 1990, to 30 in 2012, to 63 in 2018.

Rego said he expects the state’s bear population to continue to grow 10 to 15 percent per year, which means it will double every five to seven years.

So people are going to have to make some adjustments if they wish to avoid a close encounter.

Rego showed a slide of a cute little bear working on a bird feeder.

He said it was an example of a “problem bear” in the making.

How to solve the problem

The state will trap a problem bear, such as the one that was strolling casually around downtown Salisbury last summer.

An electronic tag is affixed to the bear’s ear, allowing DEEP to monitor the bear’s activities. 

The bear is then deliberately annoyed, with loud sounds and pepper spray. “We catch it, spank it, and let it go.”

Contrary to popular belief, the state does not transport trapped bears very far. The idea is to create a negative response to a specific area.

Bears that enter homes are rare but “we take home entry very seriously,” Rego said. He said a bear that enters a home is killed.

Rego said that DEEP will continue to educate the public on bears and how to avoid them, and to respond to individual complaints.

But the education part will probably be more important in the long run.

Rego said there is no “significant” effort underway in Connecticut to control the bear population.

“The population will continue to grow and so will the problems.”

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