Bear Watch 2013: First Sighting Made Saturday

It was just the end of last week that state authorities reminded residents of the importance of pulling down bird feeders to deter bears waking from a months-long slumber to come looking for food.

New Hampshire Fish & Game asked residents to pull down feeders by today, April 1, as they and scraps available in garbage cans are major attractors of bears on the prowl for the scarce food available in the early spring.

And on Saturday night, March 30, they are evidently already on the prowl.

Merrimack Patch received the following email over the weekend from local resident Steve Richard.

We had an uninvited guest last night, Saturday, March 30, 2013, around 10:30 p.m. at 82 Naticook Road. It was a small black bear probably last year's cub weighing around 90 to 100 pounds.  I wasn't able to get a good picture of it but it raided our bird feeder, which I had attached to a tree about 12 to 15 feet above the ground.

Between us screaming at it and the dog barking it treed itself and once I got the dog inside the house and left it alone it proceeded to climb down and cleaned up the remaining seeds on the ground.  At least this time it didn't destroy the bird feeder and I was able to retrieve it.  Here we go again...  We had at least 6 sightings last year.

Fish and Game Bear Biologist Andrew Timmins said half of 2012's bear complaints could be connected to bird feeders or unsecured garbage at homes and businesses.

Despite an approximately 20-year campaign to educate the public regarding bears and their affinity for bird feeders and human food left unsecured near homes, nearly 10 percent of the bear complaints last year involved bears at bird feeders and approximately 40 percent of the complaints were the direct result of bears raiding unsecured garbage at homes and businesses.

Avoid encounters with bears by taking a few simple precautions:

• Stop all bird feeding by April 1.
• Clean up any spilled birdseed and dispose of it in the trash.
• Secure all garbage in airtight containers inside a garage or adequate storage area, and put garbage out on the morning of pickup, not the night before. If using a Dumpster-style trash receptacle, inform the company that you need a one with metal locking tops and doors that are inaccessible to bears and other wildlife.
• Avoid putting meat or other food scraps in your compost pile.
• Don't leave pet food dishes outside overnight.
• Clean and store outdoor grills after each use.
• Finally, never feed bears!

Read more.

Spot a bear or bears in town? Tell us in the comments where and when you saw the bear  (date and time if you have it) or email carolyn.dube@patch.com. If you can safely snap a photo or video, upload them above by clicking "Upload photos and videos" and follow the instructions. We'll also plot your sightings on the map.