Apple eating bears

Apple eating bears

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Apple Orchardists…You need to be very bare wary. 

Whenever there is a bumper crop of apples, it means that commercial orchardists or even residents with apple trees on their property need to care for their apple trees to avoid a bumper crop of bear conflicts.  Idaho Department of Fish and Game said bear behavior is different this time of year because bears are leaving the forest in search of food before the winter. While that can lead to bears crossing roads, it has also reportedly led to bears apple orchards. Idaho Fish and Game officials say they have investigated so many different sites where trees loaded with apples have limbs that bears can reach and tear down. 

 

Residents are urged to clean up all windfalls as soon as they occur and to harvest ripe apples from the trees.  While most people picture bears to be ardent meat-eaters, they are in reality highly opportunistic omnivores that will consume whatever food sources they can obtain easily.  According to Conservation Educator Gregg Losinski of IDFG, “Bears are at that stage of the year when they are trying to put on as much fat as they can to prepare for winter and a tree full of ripe apples is seen as easy pickings.”

 

Because bears are seeking the easiest to obtain food sources possible, targeting apple trees near human residences not only puts humans and pets at risk, but can also lead bears to becoming too comfortable around humans. Many people wrongly assume that grizzly bears cannot climb trees. Adult females bears pass on foraging techniques to their young, so a cub that learns about apple trees from his mother will be back when he is a larger adult. 

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