The chances for a bear encounter in Jefferson County for this year diminishes as summer fully sets in and the wandering young bruins of spring are settling into the more comfortable environs in the rural areas of the southern Missouri Ozarks.
Even if we have already missed the opportunity have a black bear close to home, there is still a way to learn more about one of the state’s biggest wild animals. The state Department of Conservation will host an online webinar at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 25, with facts about bears and how to avoid negative interactions.
The conservation department estimates that the population of bears in the state is about 1,000 and growing at about 9 percent per year. That growth means young males spend the spring looking for an expanded home range.
A Rocky Mountain bull elk may weigh as much as 800 pounds, so size-wise black bears can claim second place with an estimated maximum weight of about 600 pounds. The two big mammals share a history in the state too.
While there may be evidence that black bears were never totally eliminated from the state, elk were wiped out by market hunting and habitat destruction. The conservation department used a relocation program to bring in elk from Kentucky and return the native wapiti to a relatively small range in Shannon, Reynolds and Carter counties.
Missouri did not engage in a similar efforts to bring back the bears, but the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission did work to restore that state’s population. Most, if not all, of Missouri’s bears wandered here across our southern border.
During the free webinar, conservation department naturalist Wendy Lott will share facts about black bears in the state including details about their life cycles, habitats and favorite foods, and their interactions with humans historically and more recently.
The state flag for Missouri depicts grizzly bears rather than black bears, according the Secretary of State’s office, which makes some sense since we had almost as many grizzlies here (none) when the flag was designed in the early 1900s. An important food, fat and fur source for native Americans and early settlers, black bears were believed to have been extirpated early in the last century.
Black bears in Missouri typically live in heavily forested areas. Most of them spend the winter in dens that could be caves, downed trees, brush piles, excavated hollows, and other natural areas deep in the woods.
Bears mate in the late spring, but egg development doesn’t begin until hibernation in the fall and cubs are born in their dens in late January or February. The baby bears usually stay with mom until the following year.
Bears are not picky eaters. Their favorite foods are whatever is in reach and in season. In the spring new leaves and even woody stems are main targets. When fruits and berries are ripening, they find a lot they like. Bears are well-known for their taste for honey, but they are willing to eat the bees that make it and other insects. Meat is also on the menu in the form of small animals, fish, frogs and even carrion.
Food will likely be the most important lesson in Lott’s presentation. People should do all they can to keep from providing a food source for bears. Once they learn that we can provide easy pickings, they will return to those opportunities. Among the most common tips are: don’t leave pet food outdoors, store garbage in a secure location, keep grills clean, remove bird feeders or hang them high, and use electric fencing around bee hives and other potential food sources.
Advanced registration is required through the department website mdc.mo.gov.
John Winkelman has been writing about outdoors news and issues in Jefferson County for more than 30 years and was the Associate Editor for Outdoor Guide Magazine.
Don't Call Me Outdoor John 