Bears likely killers of cows at Detroit farm

DETROIT – Warden officials confirmed Tuesday that at least two cows have been killed by a female bear and her two cubs in rural Detroit, off Route 220 near the Troy town line.

The cows, owned by farmer Donn Temple, were found dead Saturday with deep claw and bite marks on them. At least two other cows were injured.

A fifth cow is missing and presumed dead, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Latti said the farmer removed his herd from that field and put the cows in a pen next to the milking barn. A search was to be launched today for the missing cow. A trap also was going to be set for the bears so they can be relocated.

“It is unusual [for bears to attack cows], but this whole year has been unusual. We’ve had bears take goats, pigs. Of course, a cow is a lot bigger animal,” Latti said.

Temple said the dead cows were heifers weighing between 500 and 600 pounds each. “There were chunks right out of them,” he said. His pasture abuts a wooded area, and Temple said he spotted the adult bear about two weeks ago near the woods.

Also last week, a bear destroyed beehives owned by Pike Parent located adjacent to the pasture.

Latti said rumors that a nearby offal compost site had lured the bear or bears to the area were untrue. “There was no evidence of any bear marks or tracks by the compost site,” he said. He also said rumors that eagles had been found dead at the compost site were unfounded.

There have been several instances of close encounters this spring as hungry bears emerged from hibernation, but the Detroit attack comes nearly into July, far later than wardens would expect bears still to be hungry from hibernation.

Latti said that each year for more than 20 years, the state has received at least 200 calls from farmers and homeowners worried about “nuisance” bears.

Earlier this month, a Standish teenager taking snapshots of a black bear raiding a bird feeder in his back yard was slashed by the bear, making him the first victim of a bear attack in at least five years in Maine.

In Atkinson, a bear devoured two pigs on a farm, prompting residents of the central Maine community to tell children to stay indoors. Bears also killed some sheep on a farm in the southwestern Maine town of Parsonsfield.