The Swannanoa Valley sits snugly in prime black bear country. The area is well populated this year with juvenile and yearling bears.
Black bears have been on the prowl since late July, showing up in backyards, in cars, and at picnic areas in greater numbers than usual.
"We had three years of plentiful food, so the bears are producing more offspring," Gerry Locklear, North Carolina Wildlife enforcement officer, said. "There are more bears this year than usual, and right now they are all hungry."
Bear populations have increased in the past few years, and the expanse of their habitat has decreased.
Mike Caraway, wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, says bear encounters are up in the mountains mostly because of development in bear habitat. Also, some people leave out trash or bird feeders, or they foolishly feed them. His office has gone from fielding one or two nuisance bear calls a year 20 years ago to 300-400 calls a year in the 12 western-most counties.
Locklear says bears are scavengers, and wherever they find a free handout, they will take advantage of it. Garbage, compost piles, birdfeeders, and even grease left on the barbeque grills attract hungry bears. Injuries resulting from human interaction with bears are typically caused by food or by feeding bears.
Caraway says that the wildlife commission no longer catches and relocates nuisance bears, because Western North Carolina is so developed there is nowhere they can take the bears without the animals causing a problem for someone else. As far as killing a nuisance bear, the commission will not consider it unless the bear is endangering a person.
"Bears have been into everything this year," LuAnn Wilks, a resident of Sky High Drive in Black Mountain, said. "They have torn down our chain link fence behind which we kept the garbage. We tried ammonia around the garbage, and that didn't work, so we have taken down the chain link fence, and keep the garbage inside. They even bent the post that held the fence. Also, they have eaten a lot of the tomatoes that I had planted around the place."
Donna Kirkpatrick, who lives on Connally Street in Black Mountain, says the bears started showing up in their neighborhood in late July, and most of them are juveniles.
"We had a mother with babies, and one fell into our fish pond, but the mother bear stuck her head in the water, and the little one climbed out and onto her back," she said. "We are not afraid of the bears, but we are respectful of them. We realize that they have to find food, and we have pushed them out of their natural habitat with so much building. We are in their territory. These bears are beautiful, and very well fed."
"Bear spray that can be used for up to 40 feet away is a good idea for people who are outside in the woods a lot," Locklear said. "It does deter a bear. The best thing to do is to avoid an encounter."
A bear attacks at lightning speed, requiring humans to be able to protect themselves quickly. Pepper Power was developed by a grizzly bear attack survivor. It provides a person with a reason not to run, and it buys time which is crucial.
