Black Bears

[Matt]

Police Chase But Can't Catch Bear

Video

http://rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=5042 ... ategory=10

Monroe County sheriff’s deputies and Department of Environmental Conservation police searched for a young black bear Saturday morning who was wandering the woods and streets of Henrietta.

The bear was spotted around 7:30 a.m. near the Red Lobster restaurant on Jefferson Road. Deputies then followed him north over Jefferson to Jay Scutti Boulevard into the parking lot of Kohl's Department store. They continued to track the bear into a brush lot behind the Kwik Fill gas station near the CSX railroad tracks.

Police tried to push the animal towards rangers who were armed with tranquilizer guns.

Around 10 a.m. the bear slipped by the officers traveling north over the railroad tracks towards the Brighton-Henrietta Townline Road.

"It's been interesting. Everyone's all scratched up and probably a few cases of poison ivy before we're done but that's what we do," Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lieutenant David Baker said.

A hunt, a search, a lookout, whatever you want to call it, it's definitely been a chase.

"This morning we had it trapped in a small piece of woods but unfortunately it escaped from where we had it trapped. It's not entered a large piece of woods which is a good thing," Lt. Baker said.

"He was just crossing over the railroad tracks as the sheriffs were pushing him away from the plaza," witness Chris Wojtowicz said.

Wojtowicz saw the furry creature Saturday morning while making a delivery in Henrietta.

"It didn't look like a big bear. It looked like a medium-sized bear. I've seen bears before and it wasn't a huge bear," Wojtowicz said.

The DEC says this black bear on the run has likely come from the Bristol Hills, Livingston County area. He's two-years-old and trying to establish his territory.

"This is not uncommon. It will probably be more common in Monroe County as the bear population moves north from the Pennsylvania border," Lt. Baker said.

"The bear goes in, you see, we have a little enticement, so he goes in, he pulls on that which takes the trigger, pulls it forward and that comes down and he's trapped in there," a DEC employee explained while he demonstrated how the bear trap operates.

DEC authorities laid the trap in Brighton, near Genesee Valley Park. This is the second day they've laid down the trap. They're hoping now that the bear is in an unpopulated area, they can safely catch the bear and release it in the Southern Tier.

At an average speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour, the DEC says small bears like the one on the loose can travel fast and far.

"The public is not in any danger because of the bear. In some ways we're very happy where it moved to because it is in a very unpopulated area," Lt. Baker said.

Coming one more step closer to his home.




Black Bear Population is Growing

http://rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=5045 ... ry_type=18


The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation studies and tracks the black bear population in New York.


The department uses a tracking system to follow where the bears are moving and when. The department said the bear population is growing in the state. The bears have been moving north to more populated areas in the southern Finger Lakes, mainly because development has forced them to move.


If you come across a black bear, don’t approach it. Bears are usually afraid of humans and will not attack unless they are antagonized first.


Also, remove any food from outside your house, especially bird feeders. If you spot the bear, call 911.

[cbobcat49]

Wow.
I heard a few years back a black bear walked right into a supermarket in downtown Olean. ...and then walked right back out.

[Matt]

Bear befuddles police and DEC officials again

http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S12 ... ml?cat=565

News 10NBC is tracking new developments in the search for a black bear in Monroe County. He is on the move and a new trap has been set up to catch him.

The bear has made its way to the outskirts of the city and into the Brighton area. Department of Environmental Conservation officials were very close to sedating him Saturday morning, but he disappeared into the woods.

A new trap is now set up off of Brighton Henrietta Townline Road to get this bear out of Monroe County. Saturday morning, DEC officials were about 90 feet away from the bear, but a train rolled by, blew its horn and the bear, once again ran into the woods.

Police believe the bear is somewhere in the wooded area around Genesee Valley Park and the Lehigh Valley trail.

On Friday, the bear was spotted in the Henrietta area. A trap with a greasy combination of ham, bacon and sausage from a local restaurant was set up to catch him, but it did not work. One person we talked with who was eating in the park near where the bear was spotted, says the search will not stop her from enjoying the day.

“I really think they're more concerned of us than we are of them,” said Rose Worden of Caledonia. “Just have to use common sense, know when to be quiet and they will usually just go away. Just make noise and they will wander off.”

The bear has not been spotted since about noon on Saturday. A DEC spokesperson says they have people patrolling the area, but right now it is a waiting game. If you do see the bear, they are asking you to call authorities immediately. And they also say, not to go near it.

DEC officials believe this is the same bear that has been spotted in Lima, Bloomfield, Honeoye Falls and Avon in recent weeks. If the bear is caught, DEC workers will use a tranquilizer gun to sedate it. They will then take it down to the Southern Tier.

[Brenda]

I sure hope they catch him before anyone does anything stupid.

[champy1013]

Yesterday, Apulia Road, off of Route 20, south of Jamesville Resovoir

[Brenda]

I thought that we could combine info on sightings on one thread, as they appear to be a frequent occurrence these days.

[WeatherGoddess]

Hi everyone,
I'm the newest newbie here. I had heard of a report of a bear in the south end of Seneca County about a month or two ago. Anyone else heard anything?

[Brenda]

Welcome WeatherGoddess! That would be my neck of the woods but I didn't hear about that sighting. Do you know where it was? We seem to have had folks spot them all around us, but we've never see one on our property.

[WeatherGoddess]

It was at the east end of Butcher Hill Road almost to Townsendville Rd. I heard there were claw marks where the bear tore down a board to get in a barn where there was a momma cat & her litter. All the cats were gutted. Apparently, DEC confirmed the prints and claw marks as a bear.

[Brenda]

That would be my neighbors up the road. I did hear about the incident from another neighbor, but at the time they weren't sure what had killed the cats. I'm glad that my cat's an indoor cat! I'm certainly going to keep a close eye on the dogs when they're out.

[Brenda]

Black bear turns up in Sweden

Animal is spotted on Northampton Park trail

Victoria E. Freile
Staff writer

(July 2, 2007) — The black bear that wandered through Monroe County last month is back.

About 1:15 p.m. Sunday, someone spotted a small bear in Northampton Park in western Monroe County, according to Monroe County emergency dispatchers.

A passer-by called 911 and told dispatchers that a small black bear was wandering down a trail in the county park, somewhere between Salmon Creek and Sweden Walker Road in the town of Sweden.

By the time deputies arrived at the scene, the bear was long gone, said Cpl. John Helfer of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies believe that the bear is the same young, male black bear that wandered through several Monroe County towns last month, including Pittsford, Gates and Ogden, Helfer said.

The black bear also had been spotted near several golf courses, including Genesee Valley Park on June 23 and near the Wegmans LPGA tournament at Locust Hill Country Club on June 22.

It appears as though the bear has been in the Ogden area for the past week, most recently spotted Saturday afternoon near Hutchings Road, Helfer said.

State Department of Environmental Conservation officials have been monitoring the bear's whereabouts since it first came into the area from Steuben County or Livingston County. The animal is estimated to weigh 180 pounds.

People who see the bear should not try to approach it and should call 911, Helfer said.

[Matt]

I was wondering where he went.

[Brenda]

Another Monroe County Bear Sighting
by Casey J. Bortnick
Published Jul 05, 2007

Just when you thought it was safe to leave that picnic basket out, the summer bear sightings are back. The Department of Environmental Conservation believes it's now dealing with two young black bears on different sides of Monroe County. Most people don't seem too alarmed by the latest sightings.

"People just use some common sense and treat it as a wild animal," said DEC Regional Wildlife Manager Mike Wasilco.

It's an animal rarely seen in Monroe County, at least until this summer. And what was once thought to be one bear has become two.

"It's pretty likely the bear that was seen in the Rush area today is a different bear," Wasilco said.

After the first sighting in Henrietta last month, the DEC tracked a young black bear though several towns to Western Monroe County.

"The bear got all the attention a couple of weeks ago. It's still being seen out in the Ogden area," he added.

That bear was spotted in Ogden again Thursday morning. At about the same time, another black bear was seen miles away at the Wildwood Country Club in Rush. A maintenance worker was cutting the grass behind the 18th tee when he spotted the bear standing about 35 yards away. John Trott of Webster told RNews the bear simply looked around for a few minutes before heading back into the woods. So far the sighting of the bear hasn't kept the golfers from playing.

"Absolutely not," said Jim Donovan. "I might be worried about my playing partners, one of them getting me, but certainly not any bear," Donovan added.

The DEC believes both bears migrated north from the Finger Lakes. Wasilco agrees there's no real cause for concern as long as people remember to secure their garbage, and keep an eye on bird feeders.

"Once bears start associating people with food , they start to get into trouble and start losing their fear of people. And that's when they become dangerous," Wasilco said.

The DEC has no plans to trap either bear unless they move into more populated areas. To help continue tracking both animals, the public is asked to call the DEC at (585) 226-5380 with any sightings.

[Jennifer]

We had a bear sighting a mile up our road from my house this past weekend. He visited three homes and then headed for our gully. He was spotted just before Christmas as well....and about 6 years before that.

I also heard there was a bear sighted in the vineyards near Smith Park.

I'm glad they are around...now I just want to see one for myself!

[Brenda]

I'm glad they are around...now I just want to see one for myself!

I'll second that!

[WeatherGoddess]

From 13wham.com news:

Bears in the Burbs
Last Update: Jul 11, 2007 8:12 AM

(Rochester, N.Y.) -- At least five black bears have been spotted in Monroe and Ontario counties. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation calls the sightings unusual, but people who've seen them say they're "neat."

Monday morning, Hobart and William Smith Colleges staff photographer Kevin Colton got a wild assignment.

"I just kept shooting because I didn't know if he was just going to turn around and go back in the woods," said Colton of the young, three-foot-high black bear. "It wasn't like you had this vicious animal coming out from behind with the teeth and claws. He climbed in the dumpster, had some pizza and left."

The bear was first spotted in a cemetery about a quarter mile away. Then at about 10 a.m. it was college-bound.

The DEC said that the bear then turned around and headed south toward Watkins Glen in the Southern Tier, where most of the bears in this region come from.

"Five bears north of finger lakes, I haven't seen that in a number of years, if at all," said Randy Nemecek of the DEC. "It's been fairly dry, so they are looking for different food sources.”

Populations are growing and spreading out. Tracking them doesn't involve push pins on a map or bloodhounds sniffing them out, just a log of calls from people who see the bears. The DEC goes out and looks for themselves.

"He turned and looked at us and semi-posed," Nemeck said.

Those who've seen then bears say they're "cute."

However, the DEC fears that some people will see the bears and think they can approach them. They say that is exactly the wrong thing to do. Call the department or local law enforcement instead.

[WeatherGoddess]

From The Finger Lakes Times:

It came, it saw, it wandered ... Several bear sightings reported in and around city

By CRAIG FOX
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 11:15 AM CDT

GENEVA - Thirteen-year-old Alex Cosentino was just finishing up a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken last night when his mom yelled that there was a bear outside their house on Carter Road Extension.

Probably a cub, the roughly 3-foot-tall bear was sitting on the front porch, looking in at them around 7 p.m. Then it scampered off between their yard and a neighbor's, disappearing down a cliff and into a field, Alex said.

“It startled me. I never saw a bear before,” he said, adding that his mother, Carol, called city police.

This morning, Alex and two friends arrived at the Times' Genesee Street office before much of the staff, eager to share his pictures.

The cub - and possibly its mother - were spotted several times during the day, around St. Clair Street and along Hamilton Street.

It was also seen about 11:30 a.m. trying to get something to eat on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges campus, looking in a trash compactor near a pole barn off St. Clair.

It attracted a group of 15 people - the Colleges' public safety officers, Geneva police, wildlife experts from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Ontario County sheriff's deputies - who tried to keep track of its whereabouts, said Rob Flowers, the Colleges' interim vice president of student affairs.

“It was more of a topic of conversation, more of an interest to people than anything else,” he said.

Flowers, who saw it briefly, said it looked like the young bear weighed about 125 pounds and that it disappeared into a wooded area just east of the Colleges' practice fields.

HWS summer camp counselors were notified about the sighting and warned to keep an eye out for the curious cub, Flowers said.

In the afternoon, residents also spotted it crossing Hamilton Street and heading toward VanHouten Brothers roofing before it disappeared again.

Randy Nemecek, regional natural resource supervisor for the DEC, said that it's becoming common for bear sightings in the region, noting that in recent weeks, mostly yearlings have been seen in Canandaigua, Victor, Henrietta, and elsewhere across the area.

DEC wildlife experts said they'd heard about a cub near Geneva Country Club and heading south.

To scare the animals off, people who see a bear should make some noise by calling out or banging on pots and pans, Nemecek said, adding they are instinctively afraid of humans and normally will run off when they come in close contact with them.

He also warned that bears are really attracted to food in bird feeders, so people should remove theirs.

Tom Madalena learned that the hard way.

He saw a bigger bear - maybe 6-feet-tall on its hind legs - getting a snack around 7 p.m. from the feeder at his home on Cynthia Drive, which is west of where Cosentinos spotted the cub.

The bear ripped the feeder off the pole, dumped it over and scooped the food from the ground before heading toward North Street, he said.

“This was no cub. It was a full grown bear,” he said. “This thing was huge.”

cfox@fltimes.com

[WeatherGoddess]

I wouldn't mind seeing one while I'm in my car, but I don't think one in my backyard would be so fun.

[Brenda]

I just read of another sighting in Junius over the weekend, off Route 318. I guess that motorists were calling in to complain that it was causing a traffic jam.

[ShanaD]

Over the weekend we went up by the Seaway Trail to get some shots. It was about dusk, I was driving and my husband was looking out the window when he saw a dark figure in the middle of an open field. He told me that we needed to turn around because he thought it was the bear that has been seen all over the area. So I turn around and we go back, he runs to get the binoculars so he can get a better look at the dark figure in the field. When he finally gets a good view he lets out a disappointed “Oh.” Turns out his bear sighting was really just a turkey!