bear in the water!!

[Loony Singer]

Well, it's about 6 PM on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. We just got back from our first boat ride of the year (in our good friends' boat). Very nice...quiet, very little chop, not many boats. There seemed to be a good number of loons out and about, which was encouraging.

Coming around the SE tip of Whortleberry Island, we saw what appeared to be another loon ahead. But as we got closer, it looked less and less like a loon. It was, in fact, a black bear, swimming along nicely. Quite a good sized one, too. We watched it til it landed on Whortleberry, where it clambered ashore and shook itself off like a (very, very large) dog

I'm not good at guessing weights, but I'm sure that it was well above my weight class...maybe 250 lbs. Amazing. Never seen anything like this before. For those who live on Whortleberry, you might want to keep your garbage cans inside tonight!!

[Slickcraft]

Those guys can smell a burger cooking from miles away. What's a little swim when a feast is at hand!

[MikeF-NH]

I was fishing the tip of Whorteberry with my boys when a boat cruised up to us and asked if we had seen the bear...was that you? We were looking for it after that but didn't see it (not surprised...bears don't like to be seen). I'm sure once she got to the island, she found some nice thick safe cover to hide in under "dinner time".

We did talk to a property owner about 1/4 mile down the shore line who asked if we had seen the bear also and said she came over with a cub. Pretty cool...we would have love to have seen it. It must have come to shore right before we got there or swam in behind me when I was setting up the boys fishing rods and I didn't see it.

[ITD]

"bear in the water!!"

Gotta watch that skinny dipping Loony...... especially when the water is cold.:eek:

[Loony Singer]

Mike F-NH,

Yup, that was probably me yelling to you over by Whortleberry. Didn't want you or your kids to drop your rods in the water if the bear strolled by...he made land pretty close to where you were.

On Monday while we were lazing on our dock, a boat cruised by and called out to us. Seems he had just seen a bear crossing from Whortleberry to Nine Acre. So he (or she) was still in the area and on the move. I think the bear will be a lot happier and find more food when he finds his way back to the mainland.

[Lake Fan]

The bear spent his Memorial Day weekend with us on Whortleberry. We spotted him several times just ambling around. In the attached photo he's taking a nap in a tree by the water. He was up there for a few hours. It was pretty amazing having him around.

[MikeF-NH]

Mike F-NH,

Yup, that was probably me yelling to you over by Whortleberry. Didn't want you or your kids to drop your rods in the water if the bear strolled by...he made land pretty close to where you were.

On Monday while we were lazing on our dock, a boat cruised by and called out to us. Seems he had just seen a bear crossing from Whortleberry to Nine Acre. So he (or she) was still in the area and on the move. I think the bear will be a lot happier and find more food when he finds his way back to the mainland.

Thats awesome! Thanks for the warning...we would have loved to have seen him. I was there about 5 minutes before you yelled to us and we spending that time preparing the kids rods...I'm wondering if the bear swam right behind me as I was doing this...lol

[Loony Singer]

Last weekend, we got a call from our next door neighbor. Her bird feeder, which is right outside her kitchen window, had been bent over to the ground and completely emptied...not a sunflower seed left!

So it appears our furry black pal has now made his way to the mainland (Moultonboro Neck), which is probably a good thing. The impressive thing is that the feeder was inside a pretty tall fence. He evidently scaled a tree to drop into her yard, and another one to get back out.

[LIforrelaxin]

Last weekend, we got a call from our next door neighbor. Her bird feeder, which is right outside her kitchen window, had been bent over to the ground and completely emptied...not a sunflower seed left!

So it appears our furry black pal has now made his way to the mainland (Moultonboro Neck), which is probably a good thing. The impressive thing is that the feeder was inside a pretty tall fence. He evidently scaled a tree to drop into her yard, and another one to get back out.

Bears are capable of quite a bit if they smell or see something that will feed there huger pains. They are also creatures of habits. My suggesting to your neighbor is to leave the bird feeder empty..... To the people on the islands in that area.... don't leave anything around for him to much on, unless you want him to be a frequent visitor to the islands.

Last but not least if this guy really becomes a problem for anyone, please call Fish and Game.... They have the equipment and expertise to deal with this guy and move him far enough away so that he will not return.

[Loony Singer]

Well, not always. Sometimes, he does it on our dock. Here's a shot of the "present" we found waiting for us on Friday. We haven't actually seen this guy since our first encounter, but he really can't get any closer to us unless he joins us at the dinner table.

One thing I'm wondering. On nice days, we often have lunch on the dock. Supposing we're out there, the bear smells something inviting and ambles down the path to the dock. Now the bear is between us and safety, and we may have something of interest to him. My wife suggests throwing lunch in his general direction and jumping in the lake... :eek:

[donnamatrix]

We have bears in the yard, walking up the driveway, on the front porch-whatever, we live in the woods. The bears are pretty cool. One thing we have on the porch is the "horn in a can" -an airhorn - we keep one on the boat in case our electricity kills our boat horn and the whistle isn't loud enough. But, we've had a bear investigate our grill and try to open it, so when cooking outside, the airhorn is nearby to spook them away. It makes an ear-splitting noise and the bear goes off in the other direction. I think if you are making noise on the dock, or have music playing, or otherwise making human-type noises, the bear won't come to investigate.

[SIKSUKR]

One thing we have on the porch is the "horn in a can" -an airhorn - we keep one on the boat in case our electricity kills our boat horn and the whistle isn't loud enough.

My neighbors keep a can of air handy also to keep me away when they barbecue.I'm smarter than the average bear and have purchased a hearing protection headset and can now enjoy those great ribeyes without running off in the woods!And I can't hear them talk about me either.:laugh:

[Peter]

We were over at our cottage on Whortleberry Island putting in the water on Memorial Day. We didn't come across any sign of the bear. Always wondered if any animals would like the fat can sitting under our grill on the deck?

[Loony Singer]

I think pretty much any mammal that (a) likes meat, and (b) has a good nose might find your fat can. There's a lady who rents a place for a week each summer in our neighborhood. She has two labs...one very well behaved, the other not so much. The latter discovered the fat can under our grill (on our deck, like yours), and made something of a mess. Now, whenever this renter arrives, the dog makes a beeline for our fat can. He may be ill-mannered, but he's got a good memory. :rolleye1:

[SIKSUKR]

I think pretty much any mammal that (a) likes meat, and (b) has a good nose might find your fat can.

We have rules on the forum about making personal attacks on other members.:laugh:

[ApS]

"...Coming around the SE tip of Whortleberry Island, we saw what appeared to be another loon ahead. But as we got closer, it looked less and less like a loon. It was, in fact, a black bear, swimming along nicely. Quite a good sized one, too. We watched it til it landed on Whortleberry, where it clambered ashore and shook itself off like a (very, very large) dog..."
Nonetheless, black bears should always have a "swimming 'buddy'", just like many of us had at summer camp. ;)