Bears—they’re big, furry, exciting, and the last thing a person wants to see in the backyard.  Resident Pennsylvanians have lived with black bears since first settling the state, but the bear population is on the rise, and the Pa. State Game Commission is concerned about educating people about bears. 

“Bears needn’t be feared, nor should they be dismissed as harmless. They simply need to be respected,” says the Pa. State Game Commission in its publication “Living with Pennsylvania Black Bears.”[1]

Development has brought state residents and bears closer together than ever before.  In the 1970s it was estimated that 4,000 black bears lived in the state of Pa.  Now 15,000 black bears are estimated to live within the state’s borders.  This is what has the game commission concerned.

Bear Habitats

            Luckily for those visiting or residing in ‘bear country,’ bears would rather avoid people than confront them.  However, they are opportunistic feeders, and humans leave many opportunities. 

“The more accustomed to humans bears become the less likely they are to run away, and the greater their potential danger,”  warns the Pa. State Game Commission in its Wildlife Notes.[2]

A variety of foods make up a black bear’s diet.  The typical diet includes:  young plants, grass, acorns, ants, bees, berries, mice, squirrels, groundhogs, beaver and fawns.  In fact, bears are responsible for the death of 7% of the state’s fawns.  Fat storage is crucial for a bear’s hibernation.  If the fall food supply is meager, bears hibernate earlier and produce fewer cubs. 

At times, black bears seem contradictory.  The seemingly slow bear can run 35 mph for short distances, and the 600 pound animals are excellent climbers and swimmers.  While their eyesight is poor, they make up for it with keen senses of smell and hearing.  And although they carry the moniker “black bear,” the bears can sport a variety of fur colors from brown to black to blonde. 

Dan Bickel, the manager of Prince Gallitzen State Park in the REA Energy Cooperative, describes the park as having “an occasional bear that passes through the park.”  He attributes the park’s low bear population to its less dense forests and open hunting areas for various game.  “People are surprised that bear are here,” he says of the park’s visitors.  The bear’s preferred habitat is diverse forest that provides ample food opportunities.

Nuisance Bears

            “Bear problems” are rising as fast as the bear population, and the bears causing them have been dubbed ‘nuisance’ or ‘habituated’ bears.  In the late 1990s conservation officers in the northeastern counties of the state responded to approximately 600 complaints of nuisance bears a year.  By 2002 they responded to 1,100 complaints in the same area.

John Wasserman, a retired Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer and member of the Tri-County Rural Electrical Cooperative, explains, “A bear can become a very serious problem when it has lost its fear of humans. This is often caused by people who want to be entertained and begin putting food outside for bears.”

Feeding bears is a large part of the problem between bears and humans.  Once a bear is fed, it returns to the area to search for more food.  These habituated bears are a threat to both the environment and to people’s safety.  In areas of northcentral Pa., habituated bears have been known to enter homes, camps, and cars.

However, Cathy Druck, who along with her husband Roger own Pine Cradle Lake Campground in the Claverack Rural Electrical Cooperative, hasn’t had many bear problems at her property.  “I think for the most part people come to this area because they expect to see things like that.  Hopefully, our guests will use common sense and not expect to get close enough to put themselves in danger,” she says.  “They have not become a nuisance to us, and hopefully never would.”

Meanwhile, the PA State Game Commission reimburses those who file claims for damage to livestock due to bears.  The annual livestock claims total nearly $10,000 with $4,860 going to apiaries.  The commission does not reimburse for damaged crops which is more widespread.  Bears, especially males, are known to gorge themselves on milk stage corn after trampling an area for themselves. 

Stan Glab, another member of the Claverack Rural Cooperative, has had repeated problems with a bear destroying his bee hives.  At one point the bear destroyed both of his hives which were then rebuilt within an electric wire fence. 

“All was looking good this spring until the last week in May when out of the blue my hive was strewn about again….After inspecting the damage, it seems that the bear crawled under the wire and knocked the hive over,” Glab describes.  “Apparently the bear took the one box, sat down by a tree and had lunch.”

Bears also damage residences in search of food.  Claims have been filed with the state for birdfeeders, grills, vehicles, and even swimming pools that have been damaged by hungry bears.  Unfortunately, homeowners are not reimbursed for bear damage. 

Also costly to the state is the need for increased manpower to manage the reported bear problems.

Pennsylvania’s Bears

Luckily, a fatality due to a bear attack has never been recorded in the state of Pennsylvania. 

Wasserman explains, “Bear attacks in Pennsylvania are extremely rare. When they do occur, it is usually the result of the bear being conditioned to people's food.” 

Suzanne DeArment, Executive Director of the Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in the Northwestern Rural Electrical Cooperative, cared for a bear cub at her center.  The cub was kept in a separate enclosure that was secluded from the other animals, and there was no human contact at all. 

“Bears become tame easily, and that’s the last thing you want is a tame bear,” DeArment explains.  She also describes the bears as “instinctual animals.”

In 2003 the Pa. State Game Commission sought to further separate people from bears when it created a regulation making intentional and unintentional feeding of bears illegal.  During the first sixteen months that the regulation was in effect five written citations were issued and 213 warnings were given. 

The hunting season for bears was also extended in selected counties in northeast and northcentral Pa.  The state’s plan was for deer hunters to purchase bear tags and hunt in areas that bear hunters typically didn’t explore.  These are the areas prone to nuisance bears. 

Lynn Williams, a member of the Red Bend Hunting Club in the Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, feels that the game commission is “trying to take a step in the right direction.  Bears are difficult to manage.” 

Williams, who has hunted black bear in the state, says “I look at it from the hunting perspective…[The rise in bear population] gives hunters a better opportunity to harvest a bear….but I can see landowners’ concerns.”

Living with Bears

            The Pa. State Game Commission has made great efforts to keep bears and humans safely apart.   The Management and Biology of Black Bears in Pennsylvania is a plan that was launched in 2006.  Its mission is to “maintain healthy black bear populations in suitable habitats throughout the Commonwealth that provide hunting and viewing recreation without human-bear conflicts exceeding levels acceptable to citizens of Pennsylvania.”[3]

            The first step towards this success is to educate the residents of the state.  Bickel explains of his state park, “We typically try to do a lot of education through our park newspaper….That education seems to be paying off.”               

Relocating a bear is not always the solution to the problem.  Wasserman explains, “While the relocated bear will still have the same bad habits, it will sometimes solve the problem for the specific property where the bear was trapped. The bear will often be reluctant to return to that particular property due to a bad experience. [Other times] relocation is merely moving the problem elsewhere, and relocated bears usually return to their home range.”

Instead, Williams encourages residents to be proactive.  “People who live in bear country need to take steps to reduce bear/human incidences,” he says.

            The first step is to eliminate what bears love—food.  Pet food should be kept indoors or in a fenced area.  For those who keep honey hives, electric fences should surround the hives.  Garbage, birdseed, even hummingbird feeders need to be kept indoors at night. 

            If a bear does become a visitor, his persistence will almost guarantee return visits.  Residents are encouraged to remove all food products for at least a month before expecting the bear to disappear.  It’s best to stop the problem before it starts. 

            While people enjoy “bear territory,” they need to use cautious behavior when bear encounters are possible.  DeArment cautions, “Watch them from a distance.  Respect their behavior.”

At Pine Cradle Lake Campground this past season, a bear visited a campsite where the camper neglected to take the feeder down in the evening.  Owner Cathy Druck says the bear came onto her property around 5am.  “People were very excited about it,” she said of the visit that caused no damage to the site.  “He came looking at her open garbage can and found a bonus with the feeder.”

Of her campers, Druck says, “Most people are very cautious, and they know what attracts bears attracts raccoons and skunks.  People seem to be more fearful of skunks than bears.”

Meanwhile, both Bickel and Wasserman recall times when they were called to remove multiple bears from one site.  In 1983 Wasserman visited a landfill that was known as a place for “bear watching.”  There, he and a fellow biologist tagged and examined six bears in one evening.    Meanwhile,  in 2006 Bickel called the Pa. Game Commission to have eight bears removed from Greenwood Furnace State Park in the Valley Rural Electrical Cooperative before the dumpster that had attracted them was moved and electric fence was installed around it.

Small changes can make these properties less inviting to bears.  Taking out trash on the morning of pickup rather than the night before and keeping the ground around fruit trees clean of fallen fruit helps to eliminate food sources.  Those in bear territory should consider fake holiday decorations rather than real corn stalks and pumpkins.  Similarly, avoiding compost piles and cleaning barbeque grills is important if bears inhabit an area.

“Everyone in the neighborhood will have to cooperate. Unfortunately, this kind of cooperation often doesn’t occur,” Wasserman says. 

Knowing what to do when encountering a bear is the next step towards safe living with bears.  If a bear comes into the area, people should stay calm and stay inside, keeping a distance between themselves and the bear while making noise to discourage it from staying.  The game commission advises shooing the animal like one would discourage a stray dog.  Keeping pets leashed when walking is also important in bear country in order to avoid unwanted confrontations.  Bears are hesitant to approach a chained dog, but they will defend themselves against a dog attack. 

            “If I came across a bear, most importantly I would stay calm and get out of the area in the most non-evasive way possible,” explains Williams.

            Composure is key when facing a bear.  Bears sometimes “bluff charge” at people, stand on their hind legs to investigate further, or make popping warnings with their jaws.  Running from the animal may incite a chase.  The Pa. State Game Commission’s publication “Living with Pennsylvania Black Bears” cautions, “Nobody can outrun a bear.”[4] 

Resident Bears

            The black bear is part of Pa.’s natural wildlife, and people look forward to seeing one as much as they fear a confrontation. 

            “The black bear in Pennsylvania is a majestic animal.  They’re a special treat because they’re not as plentiful as deer….If a bear is in the yard, everybody grabs the video cameras,” Williams explains of his encounters with bear.

            Druck laughingly added that when the bear entered her campground the woman who owned the birdfeeder woke her two grandchildren to see the bear, and a camping neighbor took pictures and later distributed them to fellow campers.

            Bears are residents of the state, and like any resident their human neighbors need to understand them and learn to live with them rather than work against them.

Further Information

The Game Commission’s pamphlet “Living With Pennsylvania Black Bears” can be downloaded  at http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/blackbear/pdf/living_with_bears.pdf

The PA State Game Commission has several links to bear information at:

 http://www.pgc.state.pa.us

Harrisburg Game Commission Headquarters:  717-787-4250

Regional Pennsylvania Game Commission Offices:

            Northwestern Region (814) 432-3187

            Northcentral Region (570) 398-4744

            Northeastern Region (570) 675-1143

            Southwestern Region (724) 238-9523

            Southcentral Region (814) 643-1831

            Southeastern Region (610) 926-3136

© Kelly Ann Butterbaugh