“Keeper of Dreams”

ACSMag_BlackBearEIn North Carolina we do not concern ourselves with the presence of free roaming lions and tigers but bears, OH MY!! A 300 pound black bear was recently seen running through a playground in Eastern North Carolina, and only a few days earlier, an adolescent black bear visited a Community College Campus. Since these bear sightings are so close to home, it’s best that we get it all out on the table to keep ourselves, as well as the bears, safe. We don’t get many calls at the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter in Newport regarding Black Bears, which is the only bear species found in North Carolina, but when we do, it’s usually a “What do I do?” call about sightings in their yard or at a business. Our advice is always focused on safety such as don’t keep your garbage cans close to the house and do not leave pet food on the deck when you know bears are in the area. We also provide phone numbers for County Wildlife Control Officers who are authorized and have the means to tranquilize and relocate bears, if necessary. Black Bears once dipped to very low population levels in the 90’s, but the comeback of the American Black bear is one of wildlife management’s greatest achievements in our state. It’s thrilling for many of us to view bears from a distance (key word – distance), but you should never approach it, try to feed it or leave food out for the bear. When you feed a bear, you are training a bear to expect hand outs from humans, and a trained bear is not a tame bear. Black Bears are omnivores, but approximately 75 to 85% of their diet is vegetable matter. Common foods in our area include clover, dandelions, tubers, wild berries, persimmons, pecans, acorns, wild oats, honey and the larvae of ants, bees, hornets and other insects. Our coastal bears also rely on agricultural crops such as wheat, soybeans, peanuts and corn. Black Bears are not very effective predators but will occasionally snag a prey animal. When natural foods are scarce or if they have experienced human hand outs, they can be attracted to homes, campgrounds or garbage dumps. Once a bear has been lured by people into bad habits, it becomes a danger and will probably have to be killed, an enormous loss of an extraordinarily majestic animal and just as huge a loss for people who want to responsibly enjoy observing a bear. Yes, they are unique and intriguing, but they are still wild animals, large and capable wild animals, and this magnificent animal should be treated with healthy respect.  Black Bears in North Carolina are usually black with a brown muzzle and a white patch on its chest. They have five toes on each foot with curved claws at the end of each toe enabling them to feed on insects and grubs in rotting logs. Although their eyesight is poor, they are adept at climbing, swimming, digging and running in which they have been clocked at 35 miles per hour. Bears prefer large expanses of uninhabited woodland or swampland with dense cover. In the east, lowland hardwoods, swamps and marshes provide good bear habitat because these terrains offer necessary travel paths, escape cover and natural foods that bears need to grow strong. Male bears, called boars, grow significantly larger than females and can weigh 500-600 pounds. However, North Carolina history gives Craven County props for the largest and current world record Black Bear tipping the scales at a whopping 880 lbs! Females, called sows, generally average between 250–300 pounds and usually birth two to four, 8 to 10 ounce cubs in the January time frame, who grow quickly on mother’s milk. Their dens are usually built in tree and ground cavities or in hollowed out logs, which they line with leaves, sticks and grasses. The cubs emerge from their den in early March but stay close, as they will continue to be nursed by Mom and stay with her for almost eighteen months. ACSMag_BlackBearCubEBy the time they reach six months they weigh between 10 to 15 pounds, not much larger than an average house cat.  This time of year, cubs will be roaming with their Mom, and females guarding their young will aggressively protect her babies from any perceived threat, including you. You never want to get between a mother and her young. If you see a cub, pay attention, don’t go anywhere near it, and know that the mother is not far away. Bears are intelligent, have keen senses of smell and hearing but fairly poor vision. They can usually see movement but might not be able to determine what it is. A Black Bear may appear to be docile and uninterested in your presence, but all wildlife can be unpredictable. Park Rangers and wildlife biologists advise that if a black bear approaches you, get big by waving your arms and also get loud, but do not run or climb a tree! They are faster and more efficient at both those physical activities than humans. Make as much noise as you can; clap, yell, throw rocks or bang on something. If you are holding food, throw it as far from you as possible. Black bears are generally shy and when you stand your ground they will avoid the commotion in most cases. A human’s change in attitude or perception will help keep people and bears safe. Bears do not have to be perceived as dangerous animals, but they are also not cuddly pets! ACSMag_CubInTreeEWillfully approaching a bear within 50 yards is illegal and violation of this federal regulation can result in fines and arrest. In the grand scheme of things, humans and bears were not really made to interact. According to Cherokee Legend, a bear is a “Keeper of Dreams, so in that same spirit of romancing the wild, it would be best to maintain a dream’s distance to ensure your own safety and that of the bear’s.

Have a safe and happy SUMMER!!

Linda Bergman-Althouse

author of  “Save Them All


The Good Mothers (revisit)

ACSMag-BarnSwallowsX_Nursery attendants have shifted into high gear to accommodate the every thirty minutes feeding schedule for the bird newborns and fledglings who now and will claim the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter at 100 Wildlife Way in Newport as their foster home this summer. The incubators are full and the table and counters are covered with crab boxes, waterless fish tanks and netted doll playpens, all housing a variety of infant and juvenile bird species. Same size and compatible youngins like robins, blue jays and mockingbirds can room together, while some loners, who don’t get along with anybody, get their own space. We learned this the hard way when we tried to buddy a Titmouse with a House Finch years ago. We never knew a cute, tiny Titmouse could be so vicious. It was a frenzied evacuation, and we apologized to the terrorized Finch for the rest of the day. Wildlife rehabilitators squeeze in between and around canopied, human baby playpens on the floor used to restrict fully feathered adolescents who are still learning to eat on their own before the big move to an outside enclosure for flight school. Well-meaning people, who do not understand the natural behaviors of wildlife, deliver birdnapped, bobble-headed babies to the shelter every day. Unfeathered infant birds are the most fragile of all babies we receive during spring breeding season. The list of admit reasons is quite extensive; “I think they’ve been abandoned” (probably not) or “the big birds keep flying at me when I go near the nest” (but that’s understandable – protecting their children), or “they leave droppings on my car” (so . . maybe. . . move your car?), or “they nested in my mailbox” (how about . . . using a temporary mail container on top or to the side of the box for a few weeks, just until the little birds wave thank you, adios, hasta luego!). It’s a very slim chance they’ve been abandoned in most cases. Even if something happens to one bird parent the other will continue to bring food to the nest until the newborns are ready to take flight. ACSMag_2starlingsBlogEThe only excuses that really carry weight at the shelter are ” The cat was about to get them” or “I pulled the snake out of the nesting box, but he’d already eaten two.” (Yes, the snake must eat, but two is more than enough.) Living in the wild is harsh, even the semi-wild such as your backyard or workplace. Unfortunately, bird parents do not have the defenses needed to save their young from domestic or feral cats and dogs that injure, kill or orphan millions of birds each year, and they don’t pack the punch to whip up on an aggressive snake, either. Those little hollow legs just don’t have the Disney Ninja kick they need to do business. So, there are some good reasons to disrupt the family unit but not many. Although natural mothers provide better care, nutrition and survival training than any wildlife rehabilitator, we do our best as foster moms for the orphans in our care. We can feed the babies comparable diets, be it syringe fed formula, fruits, crickets, a variety of seed, meal worms and for the robins, juicy earthworms we dig out of the compost pile, but we don’t look like their parents (although some might want to debate that) and try as we might, we can’t teach them to be wild.ACSMag_feedingbirds_0202XBlog They just don’t take us seriously enough. They will have to depend on each other for that. Our golden advice is and has always been; if they are not in danger and there is a possibility the mother is around, wait. There are plenty of good mothers out there, even if you don’t see them. Wildlife mothers (and fathers) are devoted to the survival of their offspring, but Mom must leave the nest from time to time to feed herself and find food for the babies. After fledging, young birds will still hang with their parents and beg for food, much like human babies old enough to leave the nest but smart enough to know a good thing when they’ve got it. Have faith in the good wildlife mothers. They possess instinctive loyalty and tenacity far beyond our awareness. One of the Good Mothers we came in contact with a while back was a Mourning Dove who nested in a hanging plant every year at a hardware store. ACSMag_Good Mothers-1After situating herself, the clerks would pull other plants around her for safety, place a “Do Not Disturb” sign and pile straw beneath her chosen nesting spot to cushion a fall if a baby dove took a dive. One year, during a tropical storm, the torrential rains didn’t let up for hours, and we couldn’t help thinking about her; wondering if the hanging plant could possibly drain fast enough to prevent drowning the babies. A wildlife rehabilitator threw on her rain poncho and headed to the store, which was closed due to the hurricane threat, only to find the Good Mother hunkered down on her nest and although soaked herself, keeping her dependent brood dry. If you come across an active bird nest you feel is in a danger zone or has become a nuisance to you, please call us (OWLS) at (252)-240-1200 or a wildlife shelter close to you before displacing it. The bird world will thank you!
The first wild babies displaced this spring who reached our rehab door were mammals; squirrels, opossums and cottontails. They arrived in all stages of development, and our staff morphed into the Good Mothers needed for each species. We have already released the strong, feisty and ready to go their wild way early borns, and we are prepared to steadfastly stay the course throughout the summer, ensuring all wildlife orphans are properly raised and become strong and cleverly keen enough to live their second chance!

Best Always, (and have a safe and sensational summer!)

Linda Berman-Althouse

Author of  “Save Them All