Landfills closing so bears dine out> Animals take relish in locals’ leftovers

MACHIAS — Hungry black bears have come out of their dens this spring in search of garbage that once was available to them at any of several local dumps. But finding more of those dumps closed, bears are going downtown for lunch.

The Pleasant River Drive-in in Columbia Falls opened for business on April 28, and the next night a bear showed up at the rear of the restaurant and slopped up a meal of bacon grease from a barrel the proprietor had chained to a tree. Warden Bayley Grant of Jonesboro has been assigned to monitor the nighttime visits with plans to catch the bear in a culvert trap and transport it to a release area.

Of the 60 bears caught last year in Washington and Hancock counties, 40 were trapped by wardens in Washington County. The animals were given yellow ear tags, identifying them as nuisance bears. Most of the animals were released into a wilderness area north of Route 1 selected by the bear release program of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The area, owned by Champion International Corp., is in the midst of Washington County’s five Machias lakes.

Although the bears may remain in the basin of the lake region or on the western slopes of Washington Bald Mountain and Slewgundy Ridge, many seem to live by the old adage, “once a coastal bear, always a coastal bear.” They begin trotting toward the coast.

Last year, one coastal bear was trapped in Cutler and transported 50 miles inland. “Within five days he had completed the round trip,” said Warden Philip White of Cherryfield.

“This might be like the spring we had four or five years ago,” White said, adding that he and his fellow wardens expect to be very busy answering complaints, trapping and transporting.

At 10:30 p.m. Saturday, he caught a bear that had been roaming through Steuben neighborhoods in search of garbage. Bear sightings were reported near the Rusty Anchor Restaurant in Steuben, and garbage was taken from outside homes at the end of the Dyer Bay Road. White estimated his bear weighed 250 pounds, larger than the average nuisance bear.

He is working on reports that a sow with two cubs and a lone 2-year-old bear are roaming the residential areas of Cherryfield and Harrington. Eva Dorr of Harrington reported the door of her chicken house had been ripped off. The bear ate her chickens’ food, but didn’t injure the chickens. Goats and pigs were also uninjured.

Other problems with bears occurred over the weekend in Cooper, Whitneyville, Marshfield, Court Street in Machias, and South Street in Calais.

Bears are attracted to improperly stored household garbage, according to Warden James Martin of Alexander. During their search for garbage, bears often raid birdseed and suet from winter feeding stations. Placing garbage in a steel or plastic garbage can doesn’t solve the problem.

Tom Schaeffer, regional biologist at Machias, said last year’s record number of bear complaints started in late April and continued into the summer.

“Overall, the bear problem is quiet statewide, but in the last four or five years we’ve had a lot of problems in Washington County,” he said. “Although the closing of dumps has been a contributing factor, home owners could reduce the problem by properly storing their garbage in the garage or — better — in an approved landfill.”