Bear boom predicted in Asheville area this spring

ASHEVILLE – Area residents and outdoor enthusiasts likely will have ample opportunity for bear watching this spring.

Low harvest rates from last hunting season, abundant natural foods and good reproductive rates over the winter all point to strong bear numbers across Western North Carolina as the animals begin emerging from hiberation, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Mike Carraway said.

Bears likely will become especially noticeable over the next few weeks as female bears with cubs begin emerging from dens, he said.

"We can expect a lot of bear activity," Carraway said. "We do expect a bumper crop of cubs this year. We've seen a lot of dens with three and four cubs. We've documented four litters of four cubs."

The average litter size is two cubs, but females often have more young when food is plentiful, he said.

A major crop of acorns and other nuts last fall created prime conditions for bears to increase their numbers. The number of bears killed last hunting season — 638 in mountain counties — was nearly 50 percent less than the previous year's harvest of 1,207, thanks mostly to the abundance of natural foods.

When mast is plentiful, bears don't have to roam as far searching for food, Carraway said.

"The bear harvest was down because we had such a good mast crop," he said. "When they stay put, it makes them harder to hunt. We had probably the best mast crop we've seen in Western North Carolina in 30 years."

A research project that started last year in which biologists are placing radio tracking collars on bears has helped researchers better study the animals.

"We have found a few dens on our own over the years, but for a bear with a collar we can track them right to the den," Carraway said. "We're going to learn a lot about exactly when the bears come out (of dens)."

Because of the abundance of food, some bears did not hibernate over the winter, remaining active through the cold months, he said.

With more bears in the area, encounters with humans are likely especially this spring as bears get more active and people head to the woods, officials say. A frightening bear encounter involving campers earlier this month forced U.S. Forest Service officials to temporarily close the Graveyard Fields area to overnight camping. The popular wilderness area is off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Haywood County, about 40 miles southwest of Asheville.

At about 11:45 p.m. on March 16, a bear entered a tent that was occupied by two people and took a backpack, Pisgah district ranger Derek Ibarguen said. No one was injured, but the brazen behavior of the bear caused the Forest Service to enact the camping restriction, which could last several more weeks.

"We're going to monitor it over the next few weeks," Ibarguen said. "We definitely know that bears are in the area and they're looking for food."

In addition to the Graveyard Fields restriction, the Forest Service is requiring overnight campers to use bear canisters in the adjacent areas of Shining Rock Wilderness, Black Balsam, Sam's Knob and Flat Laurel Creek areas, he said. The hard-shell, barrel-shaped canisters, generally made of polycarbonate, offer a bear-proof way to store food.

A canister proved its worth over the weekend in Shining Rock when a bear entered a camp and attempted to open the canister, Ibarguen said. When the bear's effort was unsuccessful, the animal left the camp without further incident.

"We encourage people to comply with the requirement of using a bear canister for their own safety and the safety of the bears," Ibarguen said.

For people who may see a bear near their home or in their neighborhood, Carraway recommended getting rid of food sources.

"If you've got bears in your neighborhood, secure your trash, take down your bird feeders and remove any other food sources that would attract bears," he said.

Bear numbers have been growing for years in North Carolina, according to the Wildlife Resources Commission. The latest estimates put the mountain population at about 7,000 animals, with another 10,000-12,000 bears in far eastern N.C.

2014-15 bear harvest

Number of bears killed last hunting season, which started in October and ended Jan. 1. Numbers are preliminary.

Total N.C. harvest, 2,509

Coastal harvest, 1,871

Mountain harvest, 638

WNC county harvests

Buncombe, 30

Henderson, 7

Madison, 55

Haywood, 54

Cherokee, 32

Graham, 77

Swain, 14

Transylvania, 18

Jackson, 26

Clay, 25

Macon, 55

Yancey, 51

Mitchell, 22

Avery, 25

McDowell, 67

Rutherford, 7

Polk, 5

Source: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission