STORY BEGINS DEEP IN THE WOODS OF CHICOPEE WAS ALWAYS DREAM OF
MINE TO STUDY AND WORK WITH BEARS.
DAVE WADDLES IS THE LEAD BLACK BEAR BIOLOGIST FOR THE
MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE.
HE MONITORS THE STATE’S BEAR POPULATION, WHICH HAS BEEN
GROWING FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS.
WE NOW HAVE BEARS THAT LIVE INSIDE THE INTERSTATE 495
CORRIDOR IN EASTERN MASS.
WE PROBABLY HAVE SOMEWHERE AROUND 5000 BEARS IN THE ENTIRE
STATE.
WADDLES TEAM RESEARCH IS RURAL AND SUBURBAN DWELLING BLACK
BEARS STUDYING THEIR BEHAVIOR SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION.
EARLY SPRING IS THE TIME TO VISIT DENSE, INCLUDING THIS
PICTURE-PERFECT ONE INSIDE A FEMALE TAGGED BY MASS WILDLIFE
IN 2019.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY IMMOBILIZE THE BEAR.
WE’RE JUST KIND OF GIVING HER SECOND TO SETTLE IN SHE’S BEEN
HIBERNATING SINCE NOVEMBER AND NOW HAS COMPANY.
GENERALLY SPEAKING AROUND TWO TO THREE CUBS IS WHAT WE ANTICIPATE
SURE ENOUGH THREE BABIES EMERGE ALL FEMALE.
THEY ARE JUST BASICALLY LIKE LITTLE TEDDY BEARS.
THESE CUBS ARE SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS OLD AND TOTALLY DEPENDENT
ON MILK LATER.
MOM WILL INTRODUCE THEM TO WOODLAND TREATS VEGETATION FRUIT
AND INSECTS NEXT SPRING WHEN THEY’RE JUST OVER ONE YEARS OLD
BUILD DISPERSE AND THEY HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO A BEAR ON
THEIR OWN AT THAT TIME.
SO SHE TEACHES THEM EVERYTHING.
THEY NEED TO KNOW OVER THE NEXT YEAR RIGHT NOW.
IT’S TIME TO GET WAY FEMALE.
3.8 POUNDS.
SHE’S GROWN QUITE A LOT THIS PAST YEAR.
MEANWHILE BIOLOGISTS HAVE ONE AND A HALF TO TWO HOURS TO WORK
ON MOM BEFORE SHE WAKES UP.
WE USE THE HOOD JUST TO PROTECT HER FROM ANY DEBRIS WHILE WE’RE
GETTING HER IN AND OUT OF THE DEN.
THEY DOWNLOAD DATA OFFER ADJUSTABLE COLLAR EQUIPPED WITH
A TRACK.
DEVICE, IT’LL TAKE ABOUT A MINUTE OR SO IN THE PAST.
THIS PARTICULAR BEAR HAS BEEN BOLD.
WE KNOW THAT THIS FEMALE AFTER SHE MERGED THE DEN LAST TIME
CROSS THE MASS PIKE OVER A DOZEN TIMES VEHICLE.
COLLISIONS ARE A LARGE SOURCE OF MORTALITY FOR THEM IF THEY STAY
SAFE WATTLE SAYS SOME BLACK BEARS LIVE INTO THEIR EARLY 20S.
SHE’S A REALLY GOOD CONDITION.
OUR FORESTED BEARS ARE GENERALLY SPEAKING FOR FEMALES LESS THAN
200 POUNDS.
WHEREAS IN SUBURBAN AREAS.
THEY CAN EASILY BE 2250 POUNDS BEARS.
BLAINE’S WADDLES ARE SMART AND ADAPTABLE AS WELL AS
OPPORTUNISTIC EATERS WHO CAN SMELL FOOD FROM MILES AWAY
UNFORTUNATELY, THEY THEN ALSO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE HUMAN
ASSOCIATED FOODS WE HAVE IN OUR HOMES AND NEIGHBORHOODS IF YOU
FEED BIRDS AND YOU HAVE A BEAR COMING TO YOUR BIRD FEEDER,
PLEASE STOP WE WANT THEM USING THE NATURAL FOODS USING THE
NATURAL LANDSCAPE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND NOT CAUSING
CONFLICT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT ALL OF MASSACHUSETTS WAS ONCE
BEAR COUNTRY.
IT WAS ALL ALMOST ALL FORCEDED WHEN COLONISTS CAME WE CONVERTED
MUCH OF THE LAND TO FARMLAND BEARS WERE HUNTED FOR FOOD.
THEY WERE HUNTED FOR THEIR FUR AND ALSO AS PESTS AND
COMPETITORS AND THREATS TO PEOPLE AND WE ONLY HAD A VERY
SMALL REMNANT POPULATION IN THE NORTHERN BERKSHIRES.
AS FARMS WERE ABANDONED FOREST GREW BACK.
BLACK BEAR HABITAT GREW BACK AND THAT REMNANT POPULATION HAS
SLOWLY GROWN OVER TIME.
JUST REMEMBER IF YOU COME ACROSS A BEAR SLOWLY BACK UP NO MATTER
HOW CUTE IT IS.
BLACK BEARS ARE NOT INHERENTLY AGGRESSIVE TOWARDS PEOPLE YOU
CAN SEE THE THE LARGE CLAWS THE SHARP TEETH.
IT’S EXTREMELY POWERFUL ANIMAL.
YOU NEVER WANT TO RUN REALLY FROM ANY ANIMAL THAT TRIGGERS A
NATURAL KIND OF PREY DRIVE THAT THEY HAVE SO IT CAN CAUSE THEM
TO CHASE AFTER THEIR WORK IS DONE WADDLES AND HIS TEAM
CAREFULLY PUT EVERYONE BACK IN PLACE.
WE’LL TALK TO CUBS IN WITH HER AND SHE’LL RECOVER FROM THE DRUG
AND REALLY NOT KNOW ANYTHING HAPPENED.
SOMETIMES I ACTUALLY NEED TO REMIND MYSELF THAT IT REALLY IS
A REALLY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS.
DAVE WADDLES TELLS US THAT BEARS DEN IN A WIDE VARIETY OF PLACES
NEXT TO THE ROOT OF A FALLEN TREE OR EVEN IN SOME THICK BRUSH
OR A DEBRIS PILE AFTER A CUB TURNS A YEAR OLD.
THE MOTHER WILL LEAVE THE COB.
BUT BECAUSE BEARS HAVE SUCH A POWERFUL SENSE OF SMELL, THEY
SOMETIMES FOLLOW THE MOTHER AND SHE HAS TO BE, YOU KNOW, A
LITTLE AGGRESSIVE TO SAY.
NOPE.
YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN NOW STILL MAMA BEAR.
SOMETIMES SEE PART OF THEIR TERRITORY TO THEIR OFFSPRING
WHICH CAN BE A HUGE ADVANTAGE BECAUSE A YOUNG BEARS KNOW WHERE
TO FIND IN THAT AREA COMING UP.