Bears, Everywhere!
Bears, Everywhere!
Photo from:
Francesco De Tommaso
HELEN, GEORGIA - From the window view in your kitchen to hiking along the Appalachian Trail it is common to witness black bears wandering through the North Georgia wilderness, because it is the most populated area for that species in the entire state it is important to learn how to safely coexist with them.
Tom Hennigan, a professor of Biology at Truett McConnell University, presented an educational event about bears at Smithgall Woods State Park in Helen, Georgia, on Jan. 11. His talk was geared toward anyone interested in learning more about bears and their North Georgia habitat.
After a few stories about sightings of bears in the local area, Hennigan said,
“The key to this talk today is, how can we coexist with bears with as little fear as possible, and what are the wise kinds of actions we can take to enjoy them, but not cause them to be a nuisance?”
Hennigan has spent the majority of his lifetime fascinated by bears, dating back to his days as a Boy Scout. His love for bears led him to the research of Lynn Rogers, chairman for North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota. Hennigan followed Roger’s studies remotely for quite some time. After spending years doing that, he finally traveled to Ely to accompany Rogers and get hands-on experience with the subjects of his on-going studies.
Rogers’ and Hennigan’s research were heavily based on forming safe, trusting relationships with the bears in order to study their natural habits. The researchers would place a GPS tracking collar on the bear without tranquilizing it which allowed them to know the location of the bears and study them if they were nearby.
“As a researcher back in the 60’s, he used to tranquilize. He used to be afraid of bears but then he remembered his childhood when he would feed pigeons and they would come and land on his hand and eat. He suddenly thought to himself, what if he could get bears to do that because some of the bears that were being tranquilized were dying in the process.”
This was how they were able to slowly form natural relationships with these bears in order to place a GPS tracking collar on them. Hennigan explained how he overcame his fear of bears through following the wise advice of Rogers.
“The main thing that helped me get over my fear was learning their language and learning to interpret their bluster in terms of their fear, rather than my fear.””
There are many ways to handle a bear interaction, Hennigan says. Your actions will depend on your objectives. Hennigan says he would rather stop and observe the bear in its natural habitat and enjoy the presence of being so close to a wild animal without disturbing its peace.
“Black bears are often timid because they fear what they do not understand.”
Black bears are not aggressive unless they have become habituated to humans. According to Hennigan, alerting the bear that you are there or scuffing your feet are both good ways to safely react. These actions will frighten the bear away. The best option for people who are frightened has been to speak calmly and walk away slowly, to remove yourself from the situation rather than scare the bear away.
So as Rogers and Hennigan both explained, it is best to know your surroundings and protect yourself while also protecting our wildlife.