“Bear sightings on rise” |
| Posted: 27 Aug 2010 09:02 PM PDT Bear sightings are on the rise in DeKalb County. At a recent meeting of the Fort Payne City Council, Police Commissioner Ron Ogletree said black bears have been spotted inside the city limits. One was recently discovered prowling in a Dumpster behind Quiznos. Earlier this month, a group of Fort Payne residents said they spotted a black bear on their property at 2311 Adamsburg Road on Lookout Mountain. That bear had apparently climbed into an apple tree. Ogletree said he doesn't believe Fort Payne is in imminent danger of being overrun by bears, but did present the council with a potential policy on how officers might deal with a situation involving a bear, derived from state laws and guidelines. It's against Alabama law to shoot a black bear with anything other than a camera. That's because black bears are a protected species in Alabama and state law makes it illegal to hunt, wound, injure, kill, trap, collect or capture a black bear. And, even though legendary former Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant supposedly got his nickname from once wrestling a bear, state law prohibits that, too. The black bear is the smallest and most common species of bear in North America, and the animal's habitat stretches over a large portion of the U.S. State wildlife experts have also reported an increased number of black bear sightings in the Little River Canyon and DeSoto Park areas on Lookout Mountain. Wildlife biologist Tracy Nelson earlier said black bear sightings around Little River Canyon have gone from around 10 per year to as many as 60 per year over the course of the past 10 years. He said the bears may have migrated from Georgia and Tennessee. Black bears are omnivores, but typically favor vegetation, insects or discarded food that's easily accessible. Ogletree said the bears spotted in the Fort Payne likely wandered into the city seeking food. "One was feasting on food in a Dumpster, one was feasting on apples," he said. Ogletree said black bears are generally shy and will typically just run away when they come into contact with humans, but both he and Nelson caution against approaching, harassing or feeding a black bear. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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