Game Warden spokesman: This is hungry time for bears

A black bear strolls down Center Road in Lebanon on Wednesday. (Erin Thomas photo)

COPYRIGHT2017© LEBANON - Another bear was sighted on Center Road in Lebanon on Wednesday, adding to the above-average number of sightings in the Lebanon and Milton area this spring.

A Maine Game Warden Service spokesman said no statewide spike in sightings had been officially circulating, but that scarce food supplies, urban sprawl and fewer bears being harvested in Southern Maine all helped to increase the number of bear-human interactions.

"This is a hungry time for bears," said John MacDonald of the Warden Service. "But they're opportunists, if you leave something out, they'll eat it."

MacDonald noted that bears are omnivores, which means they eat both animal and plants, but both food sources are scarce this time of year.

He said berries and nuts have not fully matured, and fawn deer and moose that bears sometimes eat are still under very close protections from their mothers.

He added that deer in the forest have virtually no scent, adding another impediment to a bear's search for food.

After hibernating all winter the bears are in dire need of protein, which is where bird feeders, garbage bins and dirty gas grills become very attractive targets, he said.

"Most people don't take their bird feeders down until there's a (bear) issue," MacDonald said. "They should all be down already."

So far this spring numerous bear have been spotted in Milton near Pineland Park and Mi-Te-Jo Campground along Townhouse Road as well as School House Lane in Lebanon among many others.

MacDonald suggested that if you see a bear on your property bang on some metal because bears recognize it as a "human sound" and want no part of it.