are there bears in maine

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In late summer and fall, black bears forage widely to build fat. Nutrition plays a major role in determining the number of cubs that are produced, and cub survival through their first year. New England State Symbols | Honoring the Quirky, Unusual, and Delicious, Boston Museum of Fine Arts | New England by the Numbers, Yankee Magazine’s Ultimate New England Winter Guide, Yankee Magazine’s Ultimate New England Summer Guide, 63 Reasons Why We Love the Cape & Islands, Yankee Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Autumn in New England, A Gingerbread Cottage on Martha’s Vineyard | House for Sale, 5 New England Dishes Everyone Should Know How to Make. 2. One of our most celebrated and treasured animals is the black bear. The Maine coastal climate has been ranked second only to the Pacific Northwest in annual precipitation, which occurs in every form. Although black bears breed in the summer, fetal development is delayed until early winter, after the female has entered a den. Unless you’re in Maine and you know exactly when and where to look. We use data collected from annual harvests and telemetry studies to guide bear management decisions in Maine. Brown bear incidents have occurred in their native range spanning Alaska, Northern and Western Canada, and portions of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. Cubs enter dens with their mother the following fall. If you need assistance, view our PDF Help page, or email us. By the time bears in Maine reach 2 years of age their survival exceeds 90%, and nearly all deaths of adult bears are due to hunting or other human-related causes. Males stand about 40 inches tall at the shoulder; females seldom exceed 30 inches in height. Males can weigh as much as 250 pounds; females tip the scales around 125 to 150 pounds. This setting should only be used on your home or work computer. Maine has a healthy and stable population of black bears – the largest in the eastern United States, in fact. It is "our finger on the pulse of the bear population". Male black bears can weigh up to 600 pounds but average about 250 to 350 pounds, while females grow to only 100 to... 3. Physical Address: This work is possible thanks to a federal tax on firearms, ammunition and other hunting related items. 41 State House Station In the lower 48 states, wild grizzly bears are found only in a section of Montana, Wyoming around Yellowstone National Park and remnant populations in sections of Idaho and extreme northwestern … The Department also changed the focus of the project by using radiocollared females in each study area to represent bears across the state that are living in similar habitat conditions to that study area. Maine is home to the … Black bears in Maine are normally black, but they are often various shades of brown to cream colored in western populations, and are even white, and blue-gray in color in coastal British Columbia and Alaska. And of course we hope you will consider Northern Pride Lodge for your Maine bear hunt. Although the howl of the wolf has been mostly silent in the Northeast for over a hundred years, individual wild wolves … Bears are … They will try to avoid humans as much as humans try to avoid them. The first part of any management program is to have clear goals and objectives. Bears are opportunists, and feed on a wide range of vegetation and animal matter. Wildlife officials set traps after bears attack Berwick chicken coop. These marked males offer additional information regarding their movements and mortality when they are re-encountered through hunter harvest, roadkill or our own trapping efforts. Maine is home to more than 35,000 of the bears, up from just 23,000 less than 15 years ago. Closely tracking food production would help us explain year-to-year variations in cub production and survival. The remaining 25% comes primarily from hunting and fishing license sales. When they emerge from their winter den as yearling bears, they remain with their mother until she goes into estrus in the spring. Beginning in 1990, a bear hunting permit has been required to hunt bears in September and October. See our living with wildlife page to learn more about how you can minimize conflicts with bears. Although average denning dates vary from year-to-year, southern Maine bears den as much as a few weeks later than those in the north do and they emerge a few weeks earlier in the spring. If late fall food is scarce, bears usually enter dens in October. Why Hire a Bear Hunting Guide in Maine. The abundance of black bears in Downeast Maine has increased over the past few years, and here at Laney’s Guide Service we have had the privilege to harvest some of the largest bears ever recorded in Maine. The Department's bear monitoring program is an ongoing source of information providing biologists with the information necessary to properly manage this valuable wildlife resource. They don’t eat, drink, or excrete waste and are more easily awakened than true hibernators. Choosing Your Bear Hunting Guide or Outfitter. According to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s website, Maine is home to the largest population of black bears in the lower 48 states and they are most active from April 1-Nov. 1. Boasting the largest black bear population in six decades, Maine black bear numbers are on the increase and estimated to be 25,000 to 30,000 animals, which is far more than any other state in the Eastern United States. They are amazingly adaptable to human presence, and are able to survive in close proximity to housing developments and suburban areas wherever escape cover exists. A rise in permit fees in 2003 (resident $5.00 to $25.00; non-residents $15.00 to $65.00) and the down turn in the US economy have likely contributed to declining resident and non-resident hunter participation in recent years. ! 10. After the spring bear hunt in Ontario was closed in 1999, non-resident hunters became more interested in hunting black bears in Maine. BLUE HILL — Bear sightings and complaints in Maine doubled during 2012. Nearly 50 percent of cubs don’t survive their first year, often due to starvation. In years when fall foods are abundant, bears will feed until snow makes travel difficult, and normally enter dens in late November. Traditionally, beechnut production has been linked to cub production in northern Maine, but these nuts have been less reliable in recent years and are less important in southern areas. At that time, the Spectacle Pond area was lightly hunted; whereas, bears in the Stacyville area experienced heavy hunting pressure. These hunters and the rules that control their methods are the tools that managers use to ensure the bear population is not overharvested and to keep the bear population from "crossing the line". In the last 30 years in Maine, only a handful people have been injured by bears. A map from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shows Arundel to be in the "peripheral range" of black bear movement. We will consider increasing hunting opportunities to meet bear management goals, if hunter participation continues to decline, especially during the early bear season. The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. Bears can be hunted over bait during the first 4 weeks of the season, with hounds for a 6 week period that overlaps the last 2 weeks of the bait season, and by still hunting and stalking throughout the entire season. If a female is unable to store sufficient body fat prior to entering the den, the pregnancy is terminated. Their survival increases as they mature. The northcentral county is perennially the top producer of bears in Pennsylvania. Bears store body fat during the fall months to supply energy during their long winter denning period, and are heaviest in late fall. Over the past century, conflicts between bears and humans in Maine have lessened with changes in agricultural practices, the decline of farming, increased interest in bear hunting, and the species’ rise in status as a game animal. State biologists estimate there are roughly 75,000 moose roaming Maine’s rugged landscape—the largest concentration in the country next to Alaska. The fall documents a period when bears are feeding intensively to build fat stores for surviving a winter of fasting. But the opposite is true of black bears. Right now, there is a yearling black bear wandering around the Southwest Harbor area, getting into some mischief as it looks for food. 9. The Maine black bear monitoring program is a long-term project designed to continually gather data regarding the status of our bear population. No. They have a brown muzzle, and occasionally a white throat or chest patch or "blaze". The numbers show that your very best chance to shoot a mature Maine black bear is to book with a reputable guide and outfitter. Bears are compact, with stocky legs, small eyes, short, rounded ears, short curved claws, and a short, inconspicuous tail. For years, there haven’t been enough bear hunters taking enough bears in Maine, so the number of bears in Maine has doubled over the past 35 years, and is now estimated at 35,000. Maine is home the the black bear (Ursus americanus), but there are may color phases of them- black, blonde, cinnamon, brown, even blue (in western Canada). (BDN) -- Are there mountain lions in Maine?There have been frequent reports about mountain lion or cougar sightings in our state, and always they seem to be met with doubt or outright debunking. Male black bears can weigh up to 600 pounds but average about 250 to 350 pounds, while females grow to only 100 to 200 pounds. The black bear is the smallest of the three species of bears inhabiting North America (black, brown/grizzly, and polar), has the widest distribution on the continent, and is the only bear living in the eastern United States. We tag the ears of all cubs and yearlings to identify them. However, each year, primarily in the spring and early summer, the Department receives numerous calls from homeowners when bears have destroyed bird feeders or disturbed garbage. They grow to 4-10 pounds by mid-late April, when the mother leads them away from the den. We ear-tag many males while trapping and in the dens as well. Bear biologist Randy Cross knows that gathering field data is the best way to protect the future of Maine’s bears. They’re the smallest of the North American bear species. Our population objective is to stabilize the bear population (no significant increase or decrease in numbers) through traditional hunting and trapping activities. This study area was established to address a longstanding need to better represent a portion of Maine's bear population in eastern Maine living under habitat conditions not well represented by the other 2 existing study areas. In 2004, the Stacyville study area was discontinued and a new study area was created in Downeast Maine (northeast of Beddington). They will assess whether the bears in question can be captured and rehabilitated at a private rehabilitation facility. The combined effects of all these complex variables on bears are most easily measured by continually monitoring the bears' successes and failures directly in their dens. They’ve been known to prey on young deer or moose. Email us, Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Opportunities for People with Disabilities, Rulemaking Proposals Open to Public Comment, Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Reptiles and Amphibians, Rare, Threatened, & Endangered Invertebrates, local Game Warden or Regional Wildlife Biologist. To view PDF documents, you will need the free Adobe Reader. Black bears mate during the early summer months. Summary of black bear permit numbers in Maine. I have lived in Maine for almost 30 years and have seen 1 bear here in the wild. Our current management goal for bears is to provide hunting, trapping, and viewing opportunity for bears. [1] However, that doesn't mean they won't enter towns and neighborhoods. Periodic trapping efforts are necessary to maintain a representative sample of bears in each study area. Bears are not true hibernators, but instead enter torpor, a state of dormancy during which their body temperature and metabolic rate drop. By contrast, humans on bed rest for a similar length of time, although eating a balanced diet, have lost 54 percent of their muscle strength. There are only black bears in the wild of the Granite State. Maine seeking plan to manage growing black bear population. They supplement with insects (including beetles, ants, and bee larvae) and the occasional fish, small mammal, bird, or carrion. For example, if we found that our radiocollared females in our study area in the northern commercial forest were particularly successful in raising their cubs in a given year, then we would assume that other females living in the northern commercial forest were also very successful. Females are smaller, weighing 100-400 pounds, and measuring 4-5 feet in length. Bears often make trips up to 40 miles outside of their ranges to feed on berries or nuts (or occasionally to an orchard or field of oats or corn) in late summer or fall. How do biologists determine the proper number of animals that needs to be harvested? Black bears lead solitary lives, except for breeding pairs, family groups comprised of adult females and their offspring, and occasional aggregations at concentrated food sources. Tracks of female bears rarely exceed 4.5 inches in width; males leave tracks up to 6 inches wide. TTY: Maine Relay 711 Alert: Stay up to date on Maine's COVID-19 Response, Home → Fish & Wildlife → Wildlife → Species Information → Mammals → Black Bears. There are no Brown Bears, but there are brown bears. Fog is common during June, July, and August. About 30,000 black bears (Ursus americanus) live in New England. About 30,000 black bears (Ursus americanus) live in New England. Unforeseen disease or insect outbreaks may influence forest composition and harvest strategies in the future. Bears were bountied as vermin until 1957, but were granted game species status in 1969 when mandatory monitoring of annual harvests began. Recent studies indicate that bears lose about 25 percent of their body weight and 29 percent of their muscle strength during torpor. A total of between 85 and 110 radiocollared female bears are monitored each year in all three study areas combined. When beechnuts were the primary fall food for bears in northern Maine, most cubs were born in odd-numbered years in response to alternating years of high beechnut crops. Although males become sexually mature at 1-2 years of age, most do not participate in breeding until they have reached full adult size, at about 4-6 years in Maine. If they know of any easy food source they will use it, but they generally travel at night to avoid detection. 4. Bears are intelligent, and adapt rapidly to new food sources, including agricultural crops and food placed to attract other wildlife, such as bird feeders, and untended garbage. Today, hunting pressure is more evenly distributed across the bears' range in Maine. Males are roughly 40 inches tall at the shoulder and measure 5 to 6 feet from nose to tail; females are about 30 inches tall at the shoulder and 4 to 5 feet long. When feeding on a concentrated food source, bears may use areas as small as several acres; when searching for dispersed food or mates, they can cover several miles in a day. A reassessment of the past, present, and future status of bears, their habitat, and demands on the bear resource was completed in 1999. Bears walk flat-footed, and their broad feet leave 5-toed tracks that sometimes resemble human footprints. 10 Things to Know About Maine Black Bears 1. In Maine, black bears are found nearly statewide, but are most common in northern and eastern Maine and are rarely found in the heavily settled southern and central-coastal regions. Although most black bears are not much larger than humans, their weight can vary tremendously with the season of the year. To prevent conflicts with black bears each spring (April 1-October 1): Each year, primarily in the spring and early summer, the Department receives numerous calls from homeowners when bears have destroyed bird feeders or disturbed garbage. Black bear management is a balancing act between maintaining a healthy and abundant population for all to enjoy, and limiting the growth of the bear population so that bear nuisance problems do not cross the line of public tolerance. There are many bear outfitters or bear guides to choose from. Adult males average 250-600 pounds, and measure 5-6 feet from tip of nose to the tip of their tail. Cub production has been more consistent in central Maine, where more stable fall food supplies result in nearly half of adult females giving birth each year. How about January 16th, 2009 when Maine's coldest day on record was set at -50 F at the Big Black River temperature station. They are masters of winter survival. The spring represents a period of food stress, as most bears emerge from the den. In 1981, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife took over Roy's project and established a new study area near Bradford (north of Old Town) in 1982. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) is charged with managing Maine's abundant wildlife resources. Winter is the season of highest mortality for Maine’s deer, foxes, bobcats, and other wildlife. A large part of our bear monitoring program involves trapping and radiocollaring bears in late spring and early summer. Fewer than 1 percent of Maine’s black bears die in the winter, Cross has found, their lowest mortality of any season (the state’s bear population is estimated at 31,000). North Maine Woods Black Bear Hunting. Even with the additional permit, permit numbers haven’t returned to previous 2000 levels (Table 1). The black bear has a straight facial profile and a massive skull. Although they’re omnivorous, their diet is mostly vegetarian. Radiocollars are helpful for monitoring black bears because their secretive nature makes them difficult to observe. KENNEBUNK, Maine — People in York County are being asked to be on the lookout after several bear sightings. Most involved bears wounded by, and later approached by, hunters. Do not try to capture these bears by yourself. Black bears breed from May through August, with most breeding activity peaking in June and July. We have found marked differences in reproduction, survival, and recruitment between study areas as well as within study areas over time while habitat and weather conditions change. Fatal bear attacks in North America have occurred in a variety of settings. Although bears eat meat, their diet is primarily vegetarian, including early greening grasses, clover, and the buds of hardwood trees in the spring, fruits and berries in summer, and beechnuts, acorns, and hazelnuts in the fall. Bears can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Usually our Bears keep themselves out of sight. A bear management goal of providing continued hunting, trapping and viewing opportunity for bears was established by 1) stabilizing the bear population’s growth by 2005 at no less than current (1999) levels, 2) creating information and education programs to promote traditional hunting and trapping methods as preferred and valid tools to manage the state’s black bear population, and 3) creating information and education programs to promote public tolerance of bears. Bears store body fat during the fall months to supply energy during their long winter denning period, and are heaviest in late fall. With limited funding, we can more efficiently measure cub production and survival directly during our winter den visits. From time to time, moose are seen on the island---how many there are is unknown as far as I can determine. In 2001, the Department set new management goals and objectives to direct bear management through 2015 based upon the recommendations of a public working group representing diverse interests. We have learned a lot about bears in Maine over the last 35 years, but we are still discovering new things. A mother bear will attack if her cubs are present. 5. Cubs stay with their mother for up to a year and a half, with as much as the first five months spent in the den. Less than half of newborn cubs may die before reaching their first birthday, with starvation being a major cause of death. A big part of managing bear nuisance problems involves modifying human behavior to lessen the number of negative bear/human interactions. Females usually bear two or three cubs every other year in the winter den. JAY (WGME) -- Residents in Maine are reporting bear attacks on other animals. Bears are sometimes injured or killed in vehicle collisions. This diet is supplemented with insects, including ants and bees (their larvae, adults, and honey), and occasional mammals and birds. Starting in 2008, trappers and non-resident deer hunters are required to purchase a permit to harvest a black bear. Harvests there in the past three years have been 243 (2016), 312 (2015) and 286 (2014). Females use areas of 6-9 miles squared in Maine. The abundance of many types of bear foods are affected by weather, which makes predicting the food supply and cub production difficult from year-to-year. Table 1. In addition, Maine has a small human population (1.3 million) that is mostly concentrated in the southern third of the state where bear densities are lower and therefore bear-human conflicts are less numerous. The department reports that seeing black bears in southern portions of the state is rare. Because cubs remain with their mother for 16-18 months, female bears do not breed in the summer following the birth of their cubs. Forestland ownership and market conditions are constantly changing as well, which also impacts forest resource management. Maine has 69,050 km2 of bear habitat, consisting of mostly second-growth conifer-deciduous forest that provides an ample supply of bear foods (berries, nuts, fruits, and carrion). Since 1990, Maine’s bear season framework has remained fairly constant with a 3-month fall hunting season that opens the last Monday in August and closes the last Saturday in November. Their eyes don't glow in the head lights like other animals. Most conflicts with bears can be prevented by removing common food attractants around homes. Females are smaller, weighing 100-400 pounds, and measuring 4-5 feet in length. Maine is one of the few states in the U.S. with a sizable moose population. That’s one reason southern Maine bears are somewhat larger on average than those to the north are. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. ... Are there moose or bears in Acadia? For the first 8 years, Maine residents purchased the majority of permits and permit numbers fluctuated between 10,000 and 11,000 (Table 1). Female yearlings are equipped with radiocollars, which allow us to follow them throughout their lives after leaving their mothers the following summer. Roy compared population characteristics of the bears living in these 2 study areas for his PhD. Most conflicts with bears can be prevented by removing common food attractants around homes. Currently, we have three active study areas in northern, north-central and eastern Maine. By 1900, they were gone from the Adirondacks. Jen Barrett was sitting in a chair in her backyard when she got an uninvited visitor. However, if they do survive and can avoid the other main cause of death — 90 percent of adult black bear mortality is due to hunting and other human activities — they can live to about 30 years old in the wild. This long period of parental care leads to females bears producing litters every other year. We regulate bear numbers primarily through annual hunting and trapping harvests. Marathon champion Moninda Marube was chased by two bears who emerged out of the woods and charged at him while he was on a training run. The Wells Police Department reported that there were no injuries to the driver. Bear cubs are born with blue eyes, which turn brown during their first summer. In January and February, female bears give birth to 1-4 cubs inside the winter den. Female bears in Maine become sexually mature at 3-5 years of age. With over 35,000 black bears roaming the woods in Maine, there is plenty of opportunity for hunters. This assessment (PDF) provides the scientific basis for management goals. Many hunters find success each year but an average of 65% of successful hunters in the state hire a registered guide. To learn more about preventing bear conflicts in back yards, while camping, hiking, see Living with Black Bears. https://mainehuts.org/discover/blog/3-most-dangerous-animals-maine-woods In September and October, trappers can set 1 foot snare or cage trap for bears. Augusta, ME 04333-0041, Phone: (207) 287-8000 Officials aren’t sure to what the increase should be attributed. 7. This post was first published in 2007 and has been updated. Augusta, ME 04333-0041, Mailing Address: Each fall, bear hunters enter the Maine woods in hopes of harvesting a black bear. Just ask the Brewer woman who shot a video of one in her backyard. Our management goals and objectives are set by interested members of the public that have reviewed and discussed the latest MDIFW bear assessment (Public Working Group). Since 1975, we’ve monitored bears in four separate study areas across the state. Or the police officers who chased one Tuesday morning in downtown Ellsworth. All of our collared female bears are visited each winter in their dens, which allows us to determine the number of cubs born. A black bear got caught on camera raiding my neighbor’s beehive last summer. The program began as a study in 1975 when Roy Hugie in cooperation with the Department established 2 study areas consisting of 4 townships each - Spectacle Pond (20 miles West of Ashland) and Stacyville (near Patten). Black Bear sightings in Maine in April, May, and June are not uncommon, but the sight of one can certainly be unexpected. 3. Black bear are the most timid and least dangerous of the bears found in North America. There are more black bears in Maine (about 8500) than anywhere east of the Mississippi. Bears are long-lived animals, capable of surviving 30 years in the wild. Forestry practices are continually evolving, which changes the world the bears live in and the food they depend on. Cubs weigh about 12 ounces at birth, and depend on their mother for warmth and nutrition during the remainder of the winter. Thus, the general nature of the forests of northern Maine and the bear foods they provide are very different now than they were years ago, and most likely will be different in years to come. In most forested areas from Mexico North to the Pacific Northwest in annual,! 2000 levels ( Table 1 ) bears because their secretive nature makes them difficult to observe ) for... Cubs that are produced, and measure 5-6 feet from tip of their cubs for 30... Advice on taking in bird feeders, handling outside trash, and cub survival through their first.... Trappers and non-resident deer hunters are required to hunt bears in September and October, trappers can set foot! 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