The City of Leavenworth is taking steps to discourage black bears and other wildlife from dining on residents garbage. The city is changing its garbage pick-up schedule to encourage residents to put out their garbage in the morning rather than the night before.
Leavenworth Public Works Director, Dave Schettler and several city council members attended meetings and presentations where living in black bear country was discussed. Leavenworth and the surrounding area is prime black bear country and bears are frequently spotted in and around town. By moving the garbage pick-up time from 6:30am to 8:00am the city hopes to eliminate the availability of garbage as an attractant and food source for the local bears. The city notified customers last month of the change by handing out pink flyers explaining the new system.
Leavenworth experienced an increase in bear encounters last year and hopes to avoid a similar situation this year. Residents have reported bears around Blackbird Island, a popular walking and running trail along the Wenatchee River that runs through the middle of town; school field trips and soccer games have also been canceled in response to bear sightings in town.
In another step toward implementing bear safe practices the city has ordered some 64-gallon bear resistant trash bins. The special trash bins will be provided to customers who have had continued problems with wildlife feeding on their trash. These small steps will certainly help in reducing the bear encounters in the city and move Leavenworth closer to being a bear smart community.
It was a sunny,warm day with people standing shoulder to shoulder anxiously waiting to see what antics the two grizzly bears would do next as they ripped apart a tent, sleeping bag and cooler in search of food in the mock campsite set up.
Chris Morgan of GBOP says there are possibly only 20 grizzly bears left in the North Cascades. People seem to be less concerned about setting up safe camps in the Cascades because grizzly bears are rarely encountered but the 25,000 black bears in Washington are animals to be respected and smart around when camping.
Morgan says “when you’re in the backcountry you want to hang your food cache as high as you can, as far away from your tent as you can.” That’s at least 100 yards away from your campsite and 15 feet off the ground. Use bear resistant containers and never leave anything smelly inside your tent.
Movements of a radio collared sub adult female grizzly bear. Bear was captured near McArthur Lake north of Sandpoint, Idaho. She was outfitted with a GPS radio collar and released north of Priest Lake, Idaho. The red dots on the map are her locations, the white line is the Selkirk recovery zone boundary. The international border is approximately in the center of the photo from east to west. Note: her movements during the several months while she was wearing the radio collar. She eventually dropped her collar in British Columbia later in the year. Also note her westward movement to the Columbia River north of Collvile, Washington, which is well outside of the recovery zone. Also, an interesting note is that movements such as this are not totally unexpected for a subadult grizzly bears which have recently been separated from their mother, but such movements for a subadult female where unexpected. It is commonly thought that a subadult female grizzly once separated from the mother will tend to establish her new home range within or near the maternal home range. This is new information and very informative and shows the wide range and travels of some bears as the seek out their own home range. This information was presented at the IGBC subcommittee meeting this past December
Come out to Woodland Park Zoo on Saturday June 4th to watch Keema and Denali, 900 pound grizzly bears, run amok a mock campsite and backyard as Chris Morgan, bear ecologist, narrates how intelligent, adaptive and important these awe-inspiring bears are to a healthy ecosystem.
The Bear Affair & Big Howl for Wolves is a full day of activities focused on bears and wolves and how humans can co-exist with them.
The schedule:
9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Crafts for kids
10 a.m. Keeper talk on wolves
10:30 a.m. Keeper talk on sloth bears
11 a.m. Mock campsite in grizzly exhibit with Chris Morgan
Noon – 1 p.m. Chris Morgan book signing
1:30 p.m. Keeper talk on Malayan sun bears
2 p.m. Home demonstration in grizzly exhibit with Chris Morgan
This past Saturday a resident form Sammamish notified me of three bears hanging out in her neighbor’s tree. I quickly turned my car around and headed to her house. When I arrived, there were five people in the street, heads up, staring at a 70 foot cedar tree. I knew the bears had to be in that tree, but they were barely visible. Soon my eyes picked out the three black spots hidden in the branches. The resident who called me explained that the bears broke into her neighbor’s chicken coop and ate a few chicks. Fish and Wildlife was called to set a trap next to the chicken coop.
I found out the neighbor has lived in this Sammamish neighborhood for seven years and never saw bears until last year when construction began nearby on a new subdivision. She believes this same sow was spotted last summer rummaging through garbage and feeding on bird feeders. Following these incidents, the entire neighborhood worked together to remove attractants and keep garbage stored inside until the morning of garbage pick-up. Unfortunately, the allure of the chickens was too great for the sow to resist. I gave the neighbor information about electric fencing the coop and also reminded her to remove ripe or fallen fruit from her apple trees.
For more tips on coexisting with bears visit GBOP’s website.
Governor Gregoire declares May 16-22 “Bear Awareness Week” Special resources celebrate state’s grizzly and black bears and educate the public on how to co-exist
Black bears and grizzlies are an important part of our state’s natural heritage. Today, Washington has one of the healthiest black bear populations in the U.S. It is also one of just five states in the lower 48 still wild enough for a small number of federally-listed threatened grizzly bears.
Recognizing the value of bears and the need to educate the public on how to live and recreate safely with them, Governor Christine Gregoire recently declared May 15-21 “Bear Awareness Week.” Among other points, the Governor’s proclamation notes, “Whereas, by educating the public on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of bears, it is possible for people and bears to coexist peacefully…” Click on the proclamation and read the entire text.
Attached is scanned photo of the first grizzly bear ever trapped and radio-collared in the Selkirk Ecosystem. This bear was ID #863 and nicknamed Sly. She was captured by Jon Almack, in 1983, which was then a graduate student. The nickname for this bear, Sly, was short for Jon’s wife Sylvia. Over this bear life she wore 4 different radio-collars over a 10-year period. She was considered a matriarch of the ecosystem. She was killed by an elk hunter from Bellingham, in October 1993. At that time she had 2 cubs, young of the year with her. It is believed that both cubs died shortly thereafter from exposure, although it never could be confirmed. The Elk hunter who shot her was taken to federal court and later fined 21k, 5k for each bear and 6k for I believe for not reporting the death. This is the first grizzly bear I meet in the Selkirk’s in 1990 at Bismark Meadows while investigating her food habitats with Rob Weligus who at that time was a graduate student. I believe the picture shows her in a leg-hold trap, as the researchers were approaching her.
At unverified story about this bear is that because she had been captured and radio-collared repeatedly, that during her last capture she just laid down and stretched out her neck waiting for the new radio-collar. Although, not having been there, I am sure this is just a story. She had been radio-collared 4 times during her lifetime. She produced 7 cubs in her life, most of which were then later killed north of the border, either illegally or as part of sanitation related incidents and were later involved in management removals.
I have lived in the bear country of Issaquah Highlands since 2004. A community of 2,600 homes, Issaquah Highlands is located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains where black bear, cougar, bobcat and deer wander. For these reasons, it’s also a fascinating case study in an area where wildlife and people share habitat.
Black bear paw prints on fence
In 2007, I became aware of the black bears because of several bear sightings. On one sunny afternoon, my husband and I saw a bear wondering leisurely through our neighborhood park while riding our bikes. Another time we saw a bear behind our house in the greenbelt and then a bear jumped over our fence in the early morning to eat the grapes rotting in our yard waste bins. We quickly realized that simply storing our garbage, recycle and yard waste bin in the garage until the morning of garbage pick-up immediately solved the problem. The bears stopped coming.
These incidents motivated me to talk to my neighbors about ways to prevent attracting bears into our backyards. On a weekly basis, I took it upon myself to monitor bear activity in my community by taking photos of strewn garbage and mapping neighborhoods that had reported bear incursions. I also initiated a dialogue with the Issaquah Highlands Homeowners Association and the Board of Directors about the problems along with my closest ally and neighbor TK Panni. It was around this time that Chris Morgan of GBOP contacted me and offered help and resources.
Through GBOP I’ve been able to intensify my activities in the Issaquah Highlands and also expand my reach to include those who want to learn about grizzly bears as well. My area of focus for GBOP stretches from my backyard across I-90. What’s good for black bears is good for grizzly bears, is good for people.
After attending many board meetings, monitoring black bear/garbage incursions for countless hours, gathering community support for regulatory change and lots of perseverance, our efforts finally paid off. At the December 2010 Board meeting, the Issaquah Highlands Board adopted the following rule and regulation change regarding the storage of garbage, recycling and yard waste bins:
Any trash (grey), recycling (blue), or yard waste (green) containers and/or bags must be stored indoors during non-pickup hours.
Trash cans may only be placed at the curb/street for pickup 12 hours prior to and 12 hours after pickup time.
The ARC will consider variance requests in accordance with the variance policy in section 4.5 of the CCR’s under the following circumstances:
Topography
Natural Obstructions
Hardship
Garbage tipped over by bear
In addition to the rule change, we urged the Board to adopt the Bear Smart Best Practices which they did. It provides many tips for people trying to prevent bears from accessing non-natural attractants in residential neighborhoods. Some of the recommendations include advice about not feeding birds when bears are active (you may be surprised that black sunflower seeds draw bears into yards from miles away), cleaning and storing barbecues after each use and only placing garbage or food smelling cans outside on the morning of garbage pick-up. Residents can access the best practices via the Rules and Regulations of Issaquah Highlands, on the Issaquah Highlands website or in our local newspaper.
By becoming Bear Smart, we can all learn to live safely with black and grizzly bears, encouraging bears to forage in the wild, away from human homes. One of GBOP’s goals is to reduce human-bear conflicts. The passage of this rule in the Issaquah Highlands is an important step in that direction. It’s also a great example of a community that cares enough to make a small change so that bears and people can thrive.
For tips on co-existing with bears, see the GBOP page
An article in the Seattle Times and Wenatchee World about a rare cougar photo is stirring local comments in the Wenatchee area.
Brad Thomas of Wenatchee captured this photo with a remote camera of a group of up to eight cougars East of Wenatchee. The photo is unique in that rarely do cougars congregate in such numbers; eight in one photo is unheard of! This now famous photo is stirring comments from the locals in and around the central Washington town of Wenatchee.
As expected the comments run the length of pro and con issues regarding large carnivores such as the cougar; here is a sampling of some of the printed comments.
Mike Biram: “We run cattle and if they don’t have enough deer to eat, they’re going to start eating our calves.”
Judy Collins: “We have cats and dogs, and nothing’s ever gone missing.”
Anonymous: “I am a hunter but I say leave them alone they aren’t hurting anyone.”
Anonymous: “It is encouraging to note in the article that cougars in these numbers are our near neighbors, and have not disturbed us a bit.”
Burt Duncan: “The deer population is going down significantly because of those cats.”
Jacob Frazier: “The cat population is getting out of control.”
Greg Diede: “I just don’t think it’s good to chase something down and kill it.”
Pat Scott: “I’ll share the area with them (cougars), I’m not after them and they’re not after me. We think it is a privilege to see them, we’re looking at God’s creatures.”
