Black Bear Alert Waterford Twp. (Jackson Rd. area)
- Thread starter Anger Management
- Start date
There have always been black bears cruising in that area. It's been 20 years, but I lived in Atco for 3 years. Behind Edgewood HS off rt.73, is the swamp that runs in back of Atco lake, it's still a surprisingly large area. I used to walk my dogs in an empty field just off the farthest end of the swamp. I saw bear tracks there many times. The local FW officer told me that an adolescent will have a roaming area of about 50 miles radius. Roaming areas overlap, so you can have a reasonable number in a given area, just not all at the same time, in the same place. He also said that the only sightings he usually gets calls on are from the police and they are almost always at night. This was 20 years ago.
I think several things have changed that can account for the fairly sudden increase in bear/human contacts. Number one would have to be increase in population and the density of it. That empty field I used to walk my dogs in is developed, but the swamp is still there.
Next is something few folks have thought of, we have become much more of a 24 hour society than we were 20 years ago. More people out and about at 2-3 am [sober ones anyway
] than there once was. More has increased the chances of contact considerably.
The next is something a lot of folks have seen, including myself. The bears, like many wild creatures, are adapting to their environment. They have grown to see us as a resource. Many times when there is a sighting the animal is foraging for food, actually from my exp. bears are always foraging for food. They have lost, or are losing the fear of us. It isn't only bears that have done this.
I think several things have changed that can account for the fairly sudden increase in bear/human contacts. Number one would have to be increase in population and the density of it. That empty field I used to walk my dogs in is developed, but the swamp is still there.
Next is something few folks have thought of, we have become much more of a 24 hour society than we were 20 years ago. More people out and about at 2-3 am [sober ones anyway
] than there once was. More has increased the chances of contact considerably.The next is something a lot of folks have seen, including myself. The bears, like many wild creatures, are adapting to their environment. They have grown to see us as a resource. Many times when there is a sighting the animal is foraging for food, actually from my exp. bears are always foraging for food. They have lost, or are losing the fear of us. It isn't only bears that have done this.