WINNIPEG – As if a long dry spell wasn’t bad enough for crops, some farmers in Manitoba now have to learn to grin and bear it.
Farmers in the Interlake, eastern and northwest regions say they’ve seen more than the usual number of black bears in their oats, barley and wheat.
The aftermath? “Just like a big party, kind of all squashed and flattened and eaten … like somebody rolled around in there for awhile,” said Gerald Huebner, a crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
The long dry spell that stunted crops also dried up berries the bears usually eat. But oats are like “the fries on the side,” said Huebner, and fit the bill when hunger strikes.
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The bear population, though no larger than usual, is very young and healthy. And the bears tend to hang out in groups.
“All of these are … juvenile bears, bears that have a tendency to become problem bears,” said Larry Teetaert, a natural resources officer in Lac du Bonnet. “They’re not that well-educated … and they will take opportunities, and crop damage is one of them.”
Two calls per day
Les Harley, a natural resources officer in Gimli, said offices in the Interlake have been dealing with more than five times the number of complaints about bears this year, while Teetaert said his staff have been answering an average of two calls per day since June.
The season is not over yet. Bears usually come out of the woods in fall for one last scavenge before hibernation.
“Normally, the fall is when we have the majority of our problems, real persistent problems,” Teetaert said.
Tony Kotyk, crop insurance agent in Dauphin who lives near Riding Mountain National Park, said the animals have a “fascinating” technique.
They plop themselves down in standing grain, bunch some together with their front paws, and chow down. “When they let go, if it’s still a greener crop, all you have is these little stooks, these little formations with chewed-up heads,” Kotyk said.
Beekeepers are also bombarded. Paul Gregory said he has at least $10,000 in damage to his 45 bee yards near Fisher Branch. He protects his remote yards with solar electric fences, but the bears are not reluctant to venture close to humans.
Gregory said they will carry bee boxes into the bush, eat the brood first “for protein” and then lap up the honey “for dessert.” In the process, they smash the boxes and tear open the frames.
“This has been the worst bear season for us since we started farming in 1979,” Gregory said.
Bear hunting season is starting, natural resource officers aren’t hopeful that hunting will solve the problem as there aren’t many big male prize bears around.
“Females are a bit smaller and it’s more of a man-thing to get a big bruin,” Gregory said.
