MOUNT NEBO — Harry Spiker and his Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service crews are preparing for an intense couple of weeks in March when they will visit as many as eight bear dens stretched across Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties.
The annual scientific ritual is hard, physical work that allows agency biologists to monitor the health, growth and location of sow bears and to check on cubs born during the winter.
“We have collars on eight sows and have confirmed that six of those had cubs,” Spiker said Tuesday.
During the bear hunt in October, hunters legally killed three collared sows, and a fourth sow somehow got out of a collar, reducing the number of bears that can be located via telemetry equipment.
“Every once in a while, a sow will just slip a collar. Usually it gets snagged on a branch. We put the collars on loosely, because the bear’s neck can grow rapidly when it feeds heavily before denning,” Spiker said.
There are four Garrett County dens to be visited: Monroe Run, Poplar Lick, Dry Run and a location between Westernport and Savage River.
In Allegany County, collared sows are denned near Rocky Gap, Georges Creek and in Green Ridge State Forest.
The lone Washington County bear is near Indian Springs.
“We actually worked a bear three weeks ago on the Green Ridge State Forest because the batteries were about to run out on her collar,” Spiker said.
That bear and her three yearling cubs were dislodged and then chased by the dogs of Calvin and Andrew Schrock.
“We ran for about 30 minutes, probably a mile and half before she went up a tree and we could dart her (with sedatives),” Spiker said.
The sow was in great physical condition, according to Spiker, who said the yearling cubs, which stayed nearby, appeared to be healthy as well.
“When I started doing this in the mid 1990s, if we had four collared bears that was a lot,” Spiker said.
Since then the agency has had as many as 17 bruins collared in a single year. The females give birth every other year.
Although there are no collared bears denned under porches or high in trees this year, that wasn’t true in December.
“We got a call from a resident in the Beckman’s area of Deep Creek Lake who had a sow and three yearlings staying under a porch. We had to go run them out of there,” Spiker said.
Once bear den surveys begin, crews work seven days a week, according to Spiker.
“After we work the bears in a den, we go back at least twice to make sure the sow hasn’t abandoned the cubs.”
Clarissa Harris is an agency biologist who has been on her share of bear den visits.
“Sometimes the hard part is just getting to the den if it is in rough terrain,” Harris said.
“Also, there are times when a sow will run before she goes to sleep from the drugs and then you have to find her and get her back to the den. That can be tough, physical work.”
Harris said there have been a few times when it was easier to carry three 6-pound cubs to the tranquilized mother bear.
“When that happens we build a makeshift den, maybe pull her up against a log and cover her with brush.”
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
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