Did you know?–
Tiny Is Bear Country
By Jack Ellis

As the population of Tiny Township – permanent and, especially, seasonal – continues to expand we often think of nature receding and its wild critters becoming fewer and far between. Not true!

What is happening is that the habitat of many of the larger wild mammals, such as deer, coyotes and bear, is being encroached upon by human development. As a result, these once rarely-seen creatures are being spotted more often. Even the black bear, a top wildlife sight in Ontario’s northland, has been sighted more frequently in Tiny in recent years.

Black bears are active from mid-April to late fall, and especially enjoy beech forests whose nuts are a favourite food. Such stands are concentrated in the Awenda Park area and along the Nipissing Ridge stretching from north of Lafontaine toward Woodland Beach in the south. Bears are food driven animals, and have even been observed swimming to the north-east shore of Tiny from Beausoleil Island when food there ran short.

According to Jeff Schlosser, Fish and Wildlife Technician with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Midhurst, Tiny has always been bear habitat. Over perhaps hundreds of years, bears have found food and shelter in Tiny’s great forested areas. The bear density map on the MNR website (http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca) classifies Tiny as “medium” density habitat.

The actual number of bears in Tiny may vary from year to year and throughout the season as food sources both here and in other locations up to over 100 km away flourish at different times, but is likely less than a dozen – maybe as few as 6 at any one time. But the combination of development pressure reducing their supply of tasty natural foods and providing lots more human-created food opportunities has led to big increases in bear sightings.

Most of the sightings are just that: opportunities to marvel at one of nature’s creatures. But some are not: property is destroyed, humans become frightened, the animal becomes a “nuisance bear” and often this spells disaster for the poor creature.

While bears love nuts and berries, they also happily chow down on many other fruits and plants. You may be surprised to learn that they love to eat dandelions (especially the new blooms that abound at this time of year), apples, tulips and other flowers, and bird feeder contents. They just love the sugar and water in hummingbird feeders, for instance.

Household garbage bags typically hold a veritable feast for bruin! They have a keen sense of smell that helps them locate your fragrant detritus over long distances, and they are strong, clever animals able to break into many enclosures that raccoons and other animals cannot. Even compost heaps may provide a tasty bear banquet.

IF BEARS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN YOUR AREA
• Make sure you have a bear proof garbage can
• Put garbage out on the morning of garbage day, and not the night before
• Do not leave pet food outdoors
• Thoroughly clean outdoor grills after use
• Fill bird feeders only through the winter months
• Do not put meat, fish or sweet food (including fruit) in your composter
• Keep meat scraps in the freezer until garbage pick-up day
• Pick all ripe fruit off trees, and remove vegetables and fallen fruit from the ground
• Use electric fencing to protect valuable trees, orchards, vegetable and berry patches

IF YOU SEE A BEAR
• Slowly back away, watching the bear.
• If the bear tries to approach you, stop. Be aggressive, yell, throw rocks or
sticks and use pepper spray if you have it. NEVER TURN AND RUN.
• If the bear continues to approach you, resume backing away slowly while
continuing to be aggressive towards the bear.
• If a bear makes contact with you, DO NOT PLAY DEAD. Fighting back is
the best chance of persuading a black bear to stop its attack. Use a large stick,
a rock or anything else that you have on hand to hurt the bear.
• If you are near a building or car, get inside it as a precaution.
• If a bear is in a tree, leave it alone. Remove people and dogs from the area.
The bear will usually come down and leave when it feels safe.
• Call the Ontario Bear Call Centre at 1-866-514-2327. This is a new service line
to track bear movements and to provide advice and help.
• If a bear is creating an immediate threat to persons, call 911. Do not attempt to kill
a bear yourself! (In the past four years in Tiny, a couple of bears have been killed in
“defence of property,” but also a couple of charges of illegal bear hunting have been pressed.)