[3/4 time]

Dudley is on the Cape this week? Hummm .....


Bear with us?
Sighting reported in Plymouth
.
By Aaron Gouveia
agouveia@capecodonline.com
June 11, 2009

PLYMOUTH — A Cedarville woman may have spotted a black bear just three miles from the Cape Cod Canal, local and state officials said.
The sighting, which is unconfirmed but under investigation by environmental police, reportedly took place Monday morning on Long Pond Road. It follows confirmed sightings of a black bear in both North Attleboro and Mansfield within the last few days.
Cedarville resident Terry McKenna said she was walking her beagle at 5:30 a.m. when she saw the bear across Long Pond Road. McKenna said she was less than 100 yards away and clearly identified the animal as a bear.
McKenna estimated the bear would have stood roughly 5 feet tall on its hind legs.
"He looked like a big, black bear. Kind of cuddly," McKenna said. "He just stood there, looking at me and I was looking at him, and then my dog made a move and that's when the bear jumped into the woods."
McKenna's neighbor, John Matakanski, did not see the bear but said he found unmistakable bear footprints near the flowers in his front yard.
Plymouth police searched for the bear but could not confirm the sighting, said Plymouth police Capt. Bruce McNamee. The investigation was then turned over to the state environmental police.
Jim Cardoza, a wildlife biologist with the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said black bears have always lived in the western and central part of the state, with an increasing number being found in the northeast part of Massachusetts.
The black bear population has increased from 450 in the early 1980s to roughly 3,000 when last calculated in 2005, Cardoza said.
If the Plymouth sighting is confirmed, it would mark the farthest south a black bear has traveled in this state, Cardoza said.
Prior to the North Attleboro sighting, a bear hit by a car along I-495 in Hopkinton five years ago signified the southernmost known migration of the animal.
But there has been a cluster of black bear sightings during the last three weeks, said Cardoza, starting in the Medfield area and most recently moving south to North Attleboro and Mansfield.
Cardoza said male cubs leave the mother when they are roughly 15 months old. The males travel anywhere from 20 to 40 miles, but some wander much farther.
"It's quite unusual but it is possible," Cardoza said. "One concept of male dispersal is to prevent injury so the male bears don't mate with their relatives."
Cardoza, a Falmouth resident, said there is little cause for concern as black bears are not usually aggressive. But he said Cape Codders should worry even less because a bear sighting is extremely unlikely over the bridges.
"I doubt a bear would go across the bridge with all the traffic, and while they are good swimmers, what incentive would they have to cross the canal unless being chased?" Cardoza said.
"And even then, it would have to hit it at the right tide or else the bear will go from one end of the canal to the other because of the current."

Related Links
Encountering BLACK BEARs
Some helpful hints when face to face with black bears
• Black bears have shaggy hair, small eyes, rounded ears and a short tail. They are typically black with a brown muzzle, and some have a white chest patch.
• Never feed a bear. They will become attracted to your property and likely become a nuisance and cause property damage.
• Remove bear attractions: Take down bird feeders, and don't leave food or unsecured trash barrels outside..
• Do not approach bears. They will usually avoid people and move away on their own. Clap, talk or make noise to make your presence known.
Black bears will sometimes use a "bluff charge" when attempting to protect or raid a food source. Do not crouch or run. Stand your ground, then move slowly away.

[Andrew]

Can I just add that I read this topic title as:

Beers on the Cape?

... and was like...

Hellz yeah!

[3/4 time]

It's true - I have had beer sightings on Cape Cod. Several different kinds, but most behind bars.

[fishmonger]

3/4 time, on Jun 11 2009, 05:36 PM, said:

It's true - I have had beer sightings on Cape Cod. Several different kinds, but most behind bars.

Haha, cheap laugh. Good stuff

[EngineCo.2]

What bait would you use if you did see a bear in the canal????? Would you switch back to a freshwater topwater or stick with the saltwater rig? People have been seeing a big(350lb.) in my driveway every morning for the last few weeks , but I haven't been able to see the damn thing no matter what time I go out. I've got 4 feeders and a couple suet cakes out back and I still haven't had any luck. All of my neighbors feeders have been seriously destroyed so they must not like the discount birdfeed that I serve! Seriously though, I paved the Long Pond Rd. years ago and I suppose there's enough woods to support a critter that big. There's alot of unbroken land down there.
Ed

[3/4 time]

There was a sighting of something, “with a big furry backside” made in Centerville a couple pf weeks ago. The Barnstable Police investigated, but apparently found nothing.
A woman called into a radio talk show very upset about the possibility of bears on the Cape. She asked if she should hang her trash and her dog in a tree.

Clearly, we’re not accustomed to the possibility of having bears in the neighborhood.

She was advised that it would not be a good idea to hang the dog and advised that bears can climb trees. That brought on the worry about branches that come close to an upstairs window.

So while the panic has passed, until the next sighting of something “with a big furry backside,” we’ll be hanging our dogs in trees and boarding up the upstairs windows.

Darn bears !!!!