c2

BY TIM JAQUES

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Have you noticed that there seem to be more black bears and foxes around these days? That’s because there are.

“In the last 15 to 20 years there has been an increase in the population of black bears in New Brunswick.

The population is probably now around 16,000 to 17,000, whereas about fifteen years ago it was about 13,000. That is across the province, and not just in the northeast,” said Kevin Craig of the Department of Natural Resources.

“There are a couple of behavior points that can make these animals more visible at certain times of the year. Certainly on the fox side of things, now that the juveniles are away from the den and on their own, people see them quite commonly, particularly along roads. They use the roads much like we use them, to get around. They trot back and forth quite a bit. The other thing would be on the black bear side, is depending on food availability at different times of the year, the availability of natural foods, bears can become much more visible because they forage much more.”

Craig said that bears actually eat mostly fruit, including berries, and ants. However, they are opportunistic in what they will eat, and if there is a shortage in their natural food it can lead to them being more visible as they are out foraging.

“Normally when people see them most often is in the Spring of the year, because they come close to people when they go to bird feeders and things like that. We get a lot of nuisance complaints in the Spring. In the summer we get a lot because of pet food where pet food has been left outside, or barbeques, and those smells attract bears as well as raccoons and other things. It is fairly large nuisance time of the year for us. In the Fall, in most areas they generally become even more visible because… they go through a period of eating a lot, trying to get the weight for the winter.”

There has not really been a population explosion in black bears. They reproduce too slowly for there to be a sudden rise in their numbers. But the number of bear hunting licences have been doubled, many of which are going to non-resident hunters. However fewer farmers are shooting bears, and in some suburban areas the bears can’t be shot by hunters because the houses are too close together to allow it to be done in safety.

“With foxes,” said Craig, “they go in population in exact opposite to what coyotes do, because coyotes routinely kill foxes if they can catch. When coyote numbers are down, which is what we have heard from the trappers and the people who do the trading on behalf of the auction houses.”

Craig said that mange seems to be keeping down the coyote numbers, and while the disease will affect foxes too, for some reason it has affected the coyotes more than the foxes. He also doubted if there is any present risk of rabies from foxes.

“As far as we are aware there is no fox strain of rabies anywhere near New Brunswick.”

In other parts of Canada — some of them very close to urban centres — bears are a nuisance which will get into garbage and even break into houses looking for food. In our area, many rural residents simply put out garbage in plastic bags or in containers which are not raccoon-proof, let alone bear-proof, leaving the crows and seagulls a morning feast all over the road. Craig said that while New Brunswick doesn’t seem to have the bear incidents that plague other areas, putting food out in this way is sure eventually to attract bears. This may lead to the animal being destroyed, he said, and people should be careful putting any kind of food or garbage containing food