Bears and Coyotes, Oh My!
Authorities were searching for a 200-pound black bear cub Tuesday night near Autumn Park in northeast Greensboro. The bear had been spotted Sunday night but slipped away before authorities arrived. Their plan was to keep humans at a safe distance and allow the bear to make its escape unharmed, according to a story in the News & Record by Eric J.S. Townsend.
Black bears, which have been scarce in the Piedmont during the past century as development forced them out, seem to be making a comeback. Three years ago the state had more black bears than at any other time since colonists settled the area, a state biologist said. About 4,000 of them can be found in the mountains to the West and about 7,000 in the Coastal Plain.
A bear walking across the yard is no cause for alarm, experts say. Most of the trouble between bears and humans occurs over food. So the North Carolina Wildlife Resources recommends keeping garbage and pet food out of reach.
Other tips for dealing with bears can be found at http://216.27.49.98/pg06_CoexistingWildlife/pg6a2.htm
Last spring, a co-worker took a photograph of a coyote in her backyard, only a few miles from downtown Greensboro. It looks like it’s posing for the camera, a beautiful animal with a grayish-brown coat and a long, bushy tail.
During the past few years coyotes have been reported in urban areas throughout North Carolina. They prefer open woodlands, but they adapt well to city life, especially where there are rabbits and rodents to eat. I’m also told by someone who knows these things that they have a taste for cats, another good reason to keep your pets inside.
Coyotes are not native to North Carolina. They moved east in the past century after wolves, a natural predator, were exterminated in large numbers. Their only true enemy now is man.
About the same time the coyote appeared in the yard here, another coyote was leading reporters and wildlife officials on a chase through Central Park in New York City. “Hal” the coyote was captured in March. Wildlife officials had tagged him for release in upstate New York when he died unexpectedly, a victim of heartworms and rat poisoning.
As development increases, so will encounters with wildlife. Animals usually come out the loser when they cross paths with humans.
Hopefully, we can learn to share the planet, and all be the richer for it.
Authorities were searching for a 200-pound black bear cub Tuesday night near Autumn Park in northeast Greensboro. The bear had been spotted Sunday night but slipped away before authorities arrived. Their plan was to keep humans at a safe distance and allow the bear to make its escape unharmed, according to a story in the News & Record by Eric J.S. Townsend.
Black bears, which have been scarce in the Piedmont during the past century as development forced them out, seem to be making a comeback. Three years ago the state had more black bears than at any other time since colonists settled the area, a state biologist said. About 4,000 of them can be found in the mountains to the West and about 7,000 in the Coastal Plain.
A bear walking across the yard is no cause for alarm, experts say. Most of the trouble between bears and humans occurs over food. So the North Carolina Wildlife Resources recommends keeping garbage and pet food out of reach.
Other tips for dealing with bears can be found at http://216.27.49.98/pg06_CoexistingWildlife/pg6a2.htm
Last spring, a co-worker took a photograph of a coyote in her backyard, only a few miles from downtown Greensboro. It looks like it’s posing for the camera, a beautiful animal with a grayish-brown coat and a long, bushy tail.
During the past few years coyotes have been reported in urban areas throughout North Carolina. They prefer open woodlands, but they adapt well to city life, especially where there are rabbits and rodents to eat. I’m also told by someone who knows these things that they have a taste for cats, another good reason to keep your pets inside.
Coyotes are not native to North Carolina. They moved east in the past century after wolves, a natural predator, were exterminated in large numbers. Their only true enemy now is man.
About the same time the coyote appeared in the yard here, another coyote was leading reporters and wildlife officials on a chase through Central Park in New York City. “Hal” the coyote was captured in March. Wildlife officials had tagged him for release in upstate New York when he died unexpectedly, a victim of heartworms and rat poisoning.
As development increases, so will encounters with wildlife. Animals usually come out the loser when they cross paths with humans.
Hopefully, we can learn to share the planet, and all be the richer for it.
posted by Brenda Hiles | 6:11 PM
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