WYOMING COUNTY
Third black bear struck, killed by car
From Buffalo to Bennington, black bears are trying to cross the road — but not quite making it to the other side.
A motorist struck and killed a black bear Thursday night in Wyoming County, at least the third accident involving a motor vehicle and a black bear in Western New York in the past three weeks.
A bear was killed on the southbound Niagara Thruway between Seneca and Smith streets May 26, and another one died after being struck May 15 on the Aurora Expressway in the Town of Aurora.
The bear killed Thursday night was probably 3 to 4 years old, said Tim Spierto, a big game biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“This guy was known to us. He was trapped and tagged as a nuisance bear in Region 8 in early May,” he said. “He was released and he made a beeline westward.”
The DEC’s Region 8 includes counties to the east of Western New York, which is Region 9.
Spierto said the 275-pound male bear had ear tags and a radio collar placed on him when he was caught so DEC biologists could keep an eye on him.
The bear was spotted May 20 in Wyoming County, where he stopped in Middlebury and Warsaw. Last weekend he was seen in North Java, in Wyoming County.
“He got into some beehives down there,” Spierto said.
From North Java he traveled north to Bennington, where he was struck by a car on Maxon Road, off Route 20A, about 10 p. m. Thursday, and died.
The DEC usually does not tag male bears, Spierto said, but if they have been deemed a nuisance, it does to identify them.
“It sounded like he had broken into a shed,” he said, adding, “He’s only doing what bears do.”
And what bears do is look for food. If they find it in a beehive, a bird feeder or a garbage can, they will remember and come back.
In light of the collisions and bear sightings, the DEC has scheduled three informational meetings on bear customs and behaviors.
The first will be conducted from 7 to 9 p. m. July 1 at the North Forest Rod and Gun Club, 6257 Old Niagara Road (Needam’s Lane), Lockport. The others will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p. m. July 2 in the Julia Boyer Reinstein Public Library, 1030 Losson Road, Cheektowaga; and from 7 to 9 p. m. July 7 in the Lancaster Municipal Building, 5423 Broadway.
“We did this whole thing last year,” Spierto said, but he said the sessions were in more southern locations. “We didn’t anticipate the bears would go that far north.”
He said the DEC is trying to educate the public on what it’s like to live with bears and what steps should be taken to secure property and belongings.
“We don’t like destroying bears,” he said.
First on the list of tips is not to feed bears, and to report anyone seen feeding them. Garbage should be secured, and Spierto said ammonia can be sprinkled on garbage to mask the smell of food.
Bears usually are active after dusk, but can be out in the day, particularly during mating season, he said.
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