Video: Beware of bears

Forrest Hammond from the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Springfield office talks about bears after a woman in the state was recently attacked by one.

http://www.wcax.com/story/14861258/vt-wildlife-officials-beware-of-bears

Springfield, Vermont - June 7, 2011

Wildlife officials say for the most part, black bears are very benign animals. In fact, there has only been one documented bear-related fatality in Vermont. It happened in 1943.

"People are always around bears. They are not trying to harm people," Vt. State Wildlife Biologist Forrest Hammond said. "But when people start feeding the bears and they start losing the fear of people and they start coming around people more, then the potential for a conflict escalates."

And Hammond says that exactly what occurred in Cabot on May 30. A woman was attacked outside of her home after she says she got in between a mother bear and her cubs.

"Apparently she noticed her cat was outside as well and she tried to get her cat in. She grabbed it by the tail and it let out a screech. And at that point the female bear came around the corner and apparently bit her and scratched her on the leg and caused some injuries," Hammond said.

This was not the first time the Fish and Wildlife Department had spoken to the woman about bears.

"She had been given notice in the past to quit feeding bears," Hammond said. "We recognize that as something that is a very bad thing to do. It's bad for her neighbors and also for the bears. Once a bear starts getting human foods like that, it starts losing its fear of people."

Hammond says Vermont's bear population is strong and that the animals do not need help from humans to survive. Hammond says all bird seed-- which commonly draws bears to properties-- should be removed from feeders by April 1. There is a law on the books that prohibits killing bears after they have been attracted onto a property by food, but leaving out bird seed itself is not illegal. Hammond says he would like to see that changed.

"We wish we had a regulation that actually prohibited the feeding of bears in the state but we don't," he said.

The woman involved in the incident declined to speak on camera but she did tell WCAX News that what she did was not smart and that she got very lucky. Officials at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department say they hope the incident can be used as a learning example to prevent similar bear attacks in the future.

Wildlife officials want the public to report bears when they see them. You can do it online. Click here for more information.

Adam Sullivan - WCAX News