Bear encounters up dramatically across Letcher

NOT A SCARED BEAR — This black bear looked at Whitesburg City Police Officer Tyrone Fields during a break from eating garbage at Ermine earlier this week. State wildlife officials hope to trap and relocate the bear. Bear sightings have become more frequent around Whitesburg during the past few weeks and officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources say bears will continue to be visible in Letcher County unless food sources are secured.

"It is not uncommon for a bear to show up anytime, anywhere any more," said Jayson Plaxico, a state wildlife biologist from Prestonsburg.

Plaxico said Letcher, Pike and Harlan counties are three top counties in Kentucky where bear sightings are reported.

Plaxico said towns like Cumberland, Eolia, Whitesburg, Mayking, Jenkins, Elkhorn City and Pikeville are among some of the best bear habitats.

"Every day around these communities you have bears," said reproducing on their own. They are here to stay."

Bears have recently been seen getting food out of Dumpsters behind the Letcher County Extension Office and at the Earnest Cook Memorial Park, both located near the bypass in Whitesburg.

State wildlife officials hope to trap a black bear seen roaming around Whitesburg and Ermine with this "culvert trap" located near the Ermine Senior Citizens Building . (Eagle photo) This past week a male bear has been seen several times near the Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital, the Mountain Heart Center at Tunnel Hill, and the Ermine Senior Citizens Center.

Plaxico set up a culvert trap near a Dumpster beside the Ermine Senior Citizens Center on Monday after a male bear found a plentiful food source located near a high-traffic area.

"Obviously he is getting fed pretty well," said P laxico.

Plaxico said wildlife officials don't usually trap bears found in rural areas, but do try to move bears found scavenging in high-traffic areas. He said the bear could possibly walk across the street into the shopping center where Food World, Little Ceasar's Pizza, and Wal-Mart are located.

Plaxico thinks this bear is responsible for all the recent activity around the Tunnel Hill side of Whitesburg.

The 200-pound male bear had been seen near the senior citizen's center throughout the weekend and made four appearances on Monday. Plaxico said the bear ate the peanut butter and Honey Buns in the trap, but did not pull the trigger to shut the lid of the trap. He said the bear then got food out of the Dumpter and proceeded back up the hill behind the center around 10 p.m.

Plaxico said the bear may have been caught in a trap before. He said the bear had not been seen again as of Tuesday morning but wildlife officials were going to try to trap it again.

"It will be taken back to Little Shepherd Trail where it probably came from," said Plaxico.

Plaxico said if the bear is older and has been in one area for at least a year it could return to the area where it found a likeable food source.

"Don't feed the bears," said Plaxico. "We cannot stress enough the power of these attractants. Move the attractants, you remove the bear."

He said garbage is the number one attractant to bears followed by pet food, bird feeders, beehives and food scraps located in backyards.

"Get the food source put away and the bears usually move along," said Plaxico.

Plaxico recommends that people place bear-proof lids on Dumpsters which he said are phenomenally expensive.

Alice Craft, staff assistant at the Letcher County Extension Office, said bears were often seen behind the building getting food out of a Dumpster until a heavy lid was recently welded to the top of the Dumpster.

Craft said no one at the extension office has seen the bear in about two weeks.

"We just made sure the Dumpster was closed and there wasn't any food outside," said Craft.

Plaxico said people often make their own bear-proof containers to keep garbage out of reach of bears.

"Along (U.S. Highway) 119 you see old oil drums people have cut and old freezers with latches," he said.

Plaxico also said the containers must be tied down so bears cannot push them open.

"The folks that bear proof their property we never hear from again because we don't have to," he said.

He said a big problem is when some people in a neighborhood put food sources away in proper containers but some neighbors don't.

"It's a joint effort in a community," said Plaxico. "If one person has enough out there to keep bears interested the problem won't go away."

Plaxico said if people wake up and find garbage strewn across their yard, chances are the bear will be back for more food.

"If it gets its belly full, it will probably show up once more," he said.

Plaxico said when food supplies are out of a bear's reach, bears may migrate through an area quietly leaving no obvious signs of their whereabouts.

"They come and go in places you wouldn't imagine they would go," he said.

Plaxico said parts of Eolia consist of a major bear corridor that bears use to go from Black Mountain to Pine Mountain.

"Anybody in Eolia should not be surprised at any time to see a bear passing through," said Plaxico.

He said a mother bear and her two cubs live on the top of Pine Mountain.

"She crosses by Bad Branch Falls all the time," he said.

Plaxico said bear complaints in this area started around 1987.

"As the bear population grows, you are going to see more interaction between bears and people," he said.

He said it would be impossible to say how many bears are currently located in Letcher County.

"There's no way to know," he said.

Plaxico said male bears are on the move right now because it is the middle of breeding season.

"I've had bears go 20 miles a day," said Plaxico. "The only reason they settle down is if they get into something."