Black bears coming back to East Texas

primroselane · #1 02/27/05, 04:46 PM

The once-common animals were hunted out of the region by the 1950s. They've increasingly been spotted over the last decade as male bears wander in from Louisiana and elsewhere searching for new territory. Bears have been spotted 16 times since 1991.

Now the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is debating what to do about the bears' return. They're even considering a controversial plan to build the population by releasing up to 30 mother bears and cubs into the wild, though approval isn't likely.

"Once people understand bears are primarily vegetarians, bears are scared of humans, and they're not grizzly bears, they're not polar bears — nine times out of 10 they're going to support it," Hunt said.

Bears are returning to Texas now because other states have successfully managed their remaining populations or reintroduced the species. Louisiana, for example, brought in bears from Minnesota in the 1960s.

But Texas probably isn't going to actively reintroduce bears into the state. The state's bear plan is "driven by the fact we're going to have bears whether we want them or not," Garner said.

For example, the migration of black bears from Mexico has led to a natural comeback in the Big Bend region of West Texas.

bearkiller · #2 02/27/05, 05:39 PM

And what most people don't know about black bears includes the fact that they are so unpleasant to have around that they cannot stand even their own company. Bears are generally solitary animals that are so big and so strong that encounters with them whether direct human contact or indirect as in they raid your property results in wholesale destruction of property.

Bears attracted to fruit trees by ripening fruit results in trees as big as your leg being broken off and the fruit eaten. I have claw marks in some of my trees that are MORE than 8 feet in the air as they simply make their mark staking territory. Yes they eat large quantities of vegetable matter, but I can say without any doubt they definitely enjoy a carnivorous meal, whether it is your goat or you.

Further, don't believe all that bear hugger pablum that they are afraid of you because they are not. They DO tend to be solitary and are not much interested in contact, but my adventures with them are clear that they have little fear. They would eat you as cheerfully as a barrel of apples or pears. Been there, seen it, thank you very much!

Do what you can to keep the FAGs from reintroducing them. Much trouble will follow! And keep up the hunting pressure on them.

bearkiller

**fordson major** · #3 02/27/05, 05:50 PM

we have had the same trouble here mnr in their judgement has reintroduced black bear,wolves and fischers to our area. we are going to do our own transplanting and leave them in the offices of mnr.(once their native range). have no use for black bears wolves coyotes deer turkeyfischers or many of the other "reseeding"mnr has done !! made lots of work for govt. worlers and pieces for us to pick up.in the remote wild they are fine but even there a black that has lost it's fear of man is a menace.had three friends in high school killed by a black and they had been brought up around them,knew the dangers but were ambushed by a transplanted city bear. fight all you can and then some !!! offer to let them stay at the greenies houses for a while,at least it will feed the bears (and add to the darwins!!)

MTNwomanAR · #4 02/27/05, 06:14 PM

I personally live in an area that has a LOT of black bears, and don't mind having them. Yes, they can be dangerous, yes, they can be a hassle sometimes...but so what? So can humans. It's been my experience that humans hurt other humans more than ANY animals ever could.............

romancemelisa · #5 02/27/05, 08:48 PM

i live in east texas and if i didn't keep all of my magazines i could probably tell you which one i read that said texas was re-introducing the black bears, i will hunt for the article.

tinknal · #6 02/27/05, 08:54 PM

For the most part, black bears are just big racoons...walking garbage cans. Holler at them and they scoot up a tree.

OD · #7 02/27/05, 09:07 PM

The Wildlife Dept. won't admit to repopulating wolves either, but there are some around here that think they can't get through a barbed wire fence. I accidently got one hemmed up in a corner, & he ran up & down a fence that he could have easily gone through, then turned around & ran right past me. A wolf that was raised in the wild would have known better.
Anyway, you can't believe what the government says. If they want to turn bears loose here, that's what they'll do.

Orville · #8 02/27/05, 09:21 PM

Black bears are generally harmless, and usually become nothing more than a nuisance as their population increases. We had so many around where we lived, I had to put my garbage cans on my shed roof so they would leave it alone. They can break into houses to do a bit of maurauding, and if a particular bear becomes a real nuisance, the only sure remedy is to kill the bear, because they will travel a long way back home when they are live-trapped and transported away. My first encounter with bears in the wild occurred when I was quite young. I saw three bears on the road ahead of me, so I went to a neighbor's house for safety. The old lady who lived there took her broom, walked briskly toward the bears shaking her broom and shooed them away. I was quite impressed.

pepper · #9 02/27/05, 10:14 PM

oh, mr. primrose,
there was a road kill black bear 2nd week of january here in central mississippi.
thought it was a family of black chow-chows that had been hit when i saw it driving home, next morning a saw it was a bear taking up the left lane!
less than 20 min from lowes/target/fancy sub divisions.
made me real happy i've added a noisy pyr. to the farm....

->pepper who has seen the mangy mutts they call red wolves at the jackson zoo and wonders what they would do if i dropped off one of the gorgeous specimens found locally?

pcwerk · #10 02/27/05, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearkiller

And what most people don't know about black bears includes the fact that they are so unpleasant to have around that they cannot stand even their own company. Bears are generally solitary animals that are so big and so strong that encounters with them whether direct human contact or indirect as in they raid your property results in wholesale destruction of property.

Bears attracted to fruit trees by ripening fruit results in trees as big as your leg being broken off and the fruit eaten. I have claw marks in some of my trees that are MORE than 8 feet in the air as they simply make their mark staking territory. Yes they eat large quantities of vegetable matter, but I can say without any doubt they definitely enjoy a carnivorous meal, whether it is your goat or you.

Further, don't believe all that bear hugger pablum that they are afraid of you because they are not. They DO tend to be solitary and are not much interested in contact, but my adventures with them are clear that they have little fear. They would eat you as cheerfully as a barrel of apples or pears. Been there, seen it, thank you very much!

Do what you can to keep the FAGs from reintroducing them. Much trouble will follow! And keep up the hunting pressure on them.

bearkiller

Well, as someone who hikes in East Texas quite a bit, I for one would love
to be in an area that was "wild" enough (and not so overpopulated) to
support bears. Thats one of the reasons we are moving to Minnesota. I have
hiked in bear country (Grizzly and Black bears) and it is something to be cautious
about, but nothing to be afraid of.

I'm sure bears pose a nuisance problem around a homestead, but nothing that
a homesteader can't handle. I'm for reintroduction and I'm not a "fag" Bearkiller.
Maybe you really shouldn't worry so much about fags or bears.
James in Houston, Tx.

primroselane · #11 02/27/05, 10:52 PM

I have had two, up-close and personal encounters with bears in the wild. One was with a black at about 25' at Big Bend National Park.

I don't think you can call bears benign or vicious. My belief is that bears, like people, have good days and bad days. So far, I've caught two bears on good days. I'm not particularly interested in meeting any more bears unarmed.

Like miss pepper says, their biggest threat may be on the highway. They are dark and hard to see. Hit one of those suckers doing sixty or sixty-five mph and the bear may not be the only roadkill.

Jen H · #12 02/27/05, 11:00 PM

There are all sorts of bears living around me. They're not a bother at all unless someone is actually feeding them. We get part-timers who leave cookies and donuts on the porch to lure the bears up for pictures - then the same people are shocked when the bears don't leave. Those bears do usually have to be shot because they're used to coming to humans for food.

Now, living in bear country does mean making some changes. I don't have bird feeders out when the bears are active. The garbage is kept in the garage, no matter how smelly it is. The garbage is put out for collection in the morning and taken back inside that afternoon - not left out all night. The barbeque is inside the garage when we're not using it. The fruit trees and garden are behind an 8' electric fence - that's as much to keep the elk out as the bears.

I see bears around, but they've really never bothered me at all. I just see black fuzzy butts running the other way from across the berry patch. It actually is wonderful living in an area that can still support such large wildlife.

shorty'smom · #13 02/28/05, 12:35 AM

Black bears have been reported in Eastern Oklahoma too. I didn't think they'd get as far west as i am, but one has been seen around here. We tried to tell the game ranger that cougars were here too, with no luck. They refuse to admit it, though one has been hit by a local train (never travels too far from North Central OK. The cat had been tagged in Wyoming. A highway patrol car hit one on the highway too, but nobody will officially say they are here. They don't want folks to get panicky about it, or bears. I goout to check my goats at night, and carry a lantern, high powered flashlight that will shine well at a distance, and I make a lot of noise so anything that might be at the goat shed will hear me coming.

bgak47 · #14 02/28/05, 08:17 AM

We have quite a few black bears in SE OK. I had a small female that was coming to my deer feeder where I was feeding fruit. I stopped putting out fruit & she went elsewhere. She never even tried to get in my garbage, which is more than I can say about the raccoons. I've found cougar tracks by the creek, but I've never spotted one & they've never bothered my guineas. When I go on a walkabout I'm more concerned about feral hogs & roving packs of abandoned dogs. I'm glad to see bears & cougars coming back into SE OK. There are certainly plenty of deer & hogs to support cougars or even a few timber wolves. If they do become a problem for homesteaders, farmers,or ranchers they Will be hunted...with or without the permission of the wildlife department. I talked to my neighbors about the bear, & we were in aggreement that she should be left alone as long as she didn't bother our animals. We all target shoot quite a bit, so that may have something to do with the fact that we've not had much trouble.

65284 · #15 02/28/05, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcwerk

I'm sure bears pose a nuisance problem around a homestead, but nothing that
a homesteader can't handle. I'm for reintroduction and I'm not a "fag" Bearkiller.
Maybe you really shouldn't worry so much about fags or bears.
James in Houston, Tx.

James were you so anxious to be PC that you didn't consider that Bearkiller probably meant Fish And Game depts. and not the kind of "fags" you are referring to?????

bgak47 · #16 02/28/05, 10:55 AM

I'm pretty sure that is the case. I Highly doubt if he meant it the other way.

65284 · #17 02/28/05, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgak47

I'm pretty sure that is the case. I Highly doubt if he meant it the other way.

Yeah, with the thread being about bears and with some state game agencies being mentioned you would think his meaning would fairly obvious. But some folks view everything through the lens of political correctness and never miss an opportunity to take a jab at someone. Even if it entails a highly convoluted way of looking at a given subject, it is quite a stretch.....from bears to "fags". I have seen up close the damage black bears are capable of, and quite willing to inflict. It is foolish not to worry about them. Most homesteaders have enough to do and worry about, they really don’t need the added danger. damage, and expense bears can, and do cause. People shouldn't have to put up with them just so hikers can enjoy having them around.

romancemelisa · #18 02/28/05, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romancemelisa

i live in east texas and if i didn't keep all of my magazines i could probably tell you which one i read that said texas was re-introducing the black bears, i will hunt for the article.

well, i didn't have to hunt at all, my son step-mother called me this morning to report to me that the Port Arthur News, in s.e. texas ran a story that there have been 19 sighting in east texas.
they were here first.

DrippingSprings · #19 02/28/05, 05:43 PM

My sister lives near the Texas Louisianna state line near Orange and a black got in her chickens a couple months ago.

Orville · #20 02/28/05, 08:51 PM

For the record....there's been a lot of talk about 'bears'. Most probably know this, but just in case there is one uninformed soul, let me say that there is a big difference between black bears and brown bears. Black bears are a nuisance and can be dangerous. Brown bears are dangerous and can be deadly. Most people in grizzly country know this, but just in case.....