Printer Friendly Version - Bears in the Guilford Wild

Guilford’s most famous black bear. Photos of this bear, which stopped for a snack at Audrey and Jim Popplewell’s Guilford home in July 2016, were viewed more than 45,000 times on Facebook. Photo by Audrey Popplewell

Guilford may not have lions or tigers, but the town does have its fair share of bears. In response to the uptick in bear sightings in town, the Guilford Conservation Committee held a public forum on Feb. 1 to discuss living with local wildlife.

Part of the committee’s Living with Wildlife Series, the Bears in the Backyard forum featured Department of Energy & Environment Protection (DEEP) wildlife biologist Paul Rego. Covering everything from how the bear population has grown to how to live with your new neighbors, the presentation packed close to 50 residents into the Guilford Free Library.

Guilford is known for its land conservation, with 51 percent of the town deemed open space, but the preservation of open space goes hand in hand with the presence of the forest’s original habitants. In 2016 there were 51 black bear sightings in Guilford reported to the DEEP. Black bears are the smallest of North American bears, but a male can still weight up to 450 pounds and reach a length of 5 to 6 feet—quite the shock if the bear is standing in the yard.

According to Rego, the black bear population is on the rise across the state. After being almost completely wiped out by the 1840s due to humans, growing conservation efforts and wildlife protection regulations brought the bear population back to the state by the 1980s. The DEEP has been collecting bear sightings from residents for 25 years and Rego said last year had a record number of sightings statewide.

“Last year was a bumper year. I am not sure why, but there were over 6,000 sightings and that is 50 percent more than the year before,” he said.

With so many bears in the region, Rego said one of the most important factors in living with bears is education—understanding what they eat, how they live, and how to deal with them. Bears mainly survive on a plant-based diet, but Rego said they are opportunistic animals and will be carnivores if the opportunity arises. Bears also like to eat berries and social insects like bees, ants, and wasps.

“They especially like social insects that we put in cubical boxes and stack up for them,” he said, referring to beekeepers’ hives.

By about November, bears go into their winter den to hibernate and will not emerge until March or April depending on the weather and the food supply. Rego showed photos of bear dens in trees and others built on the ground without much cover.

Bear cubs are born while bears are in the den. Rego said cub survival rate in the first year is very high—almost 80 percent.

“Conservatively we think this we lead to a 10-15 percent population growth per year, which is a doubling of the population every five to seven years,” he said.

With the bear population on the rise and no population control program in the state, Rego said bears now find themselves interspersed in unfamiliar human environments.

“The bear population came back to a landscape that had roads and cars and shopping malls and the first [vehicle versus bear] hit we ever recorded was in 1990,” he said. “Last year 43 bears were hit and killed by cars and we believe there are others that go unreported.”

Bears are also learning to be less afraid of humans. Rego said one of the biggest problems is a bear getting into birdseed and human trash.

“One thing that is occurring is bears are learning to find food near humans, learning that if it can lose its fear of dogs, humans, and human commotion, it can be rewarded by finding food,” he said.

Rego said the biggest message is not making food available to bears to avoid any possible interactions. When residents reported seeing bears in their yard last summer, Animal Control Officer Danielle Borrelli previously said there are a couple of easy things to do to scare them off and keep them away.

“Black bears are typically non-aggressive and shy creatures,” she said. “Loud noises will usually scare them off, so you can bang pots and pans together if you need to get them out of the yard. When out hiking or walking, simply making noise will usually scare them off. Talking loudly, making your phone ring on high volume, or anything like that will usually do the trick.

“Never run if you see a bear,” Rego advised, “just walk away slowly while making noise.”

To learn more about black bears or to report a sighting, contact DEEP at 860-424-3011 or visit www.ct.gov/deep.