Document text
Biologists count defiant bears By Mark Freeman Biologists have turned to rotting salmon and lard-soaked tampons this summer in an effort to learn more about the bears in Southwest Oregon�s woods. The chunks of salmon and greasy tampons were used as bait to help lure more bears for sampling in researchers� attempts at estimating the region�s black bear population. When added to a one-pound slab of bacon nailed to a tree, the salmon and grease helped lure more than twice as many bears for study this summer than just bacon, which garnered far fewer whiffs in the woods than researchers needed. "We were looking for something that would hold the scent longer than just bacon; the greasy tampons were used in wolverine studies so I decided to try it," says Merv Wolfer, acting district biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It�s just an attempt to keep the grease odor out there longer." Hunters are again being asked to participate in the ODFW�s black bear research study, now in its second year. Those who shoot a black bear during the current general season are asked to provide agency biologists with a premolar tooth from the bear as well as some basic information about the animal�s sex and when and where it was killed. The general season opened Tuesday and runs through December in what is a two-month extension of the traditional fall season in Western Oregon. The season used to open at the end of August and run through November, but biologists believe the region�s bear populations are strong enough to warrant longer hunting seasons and increased harvest. The population study, which is run out of the ODFW�s Roseburg office, is a unique form of "mark-and-recapture" biology in which scientists mark a known number of a species then set out to recapture as many of the animals as possible. By comparing the number of marked and unmarked animals in the recapture group, biologists can estimate the animal�s population. The program is popular among fishery biologists surveying such species as black crappie in Emigrant Lake near Ashland. But the big-game version of the crappie survey has more at stake � if this voluntary program could be replaced by a mandatory check-in program like the one now in place for cougar hunting. The ODFW must receive samples from 30 percent of the bears tagged in 2000 to make the survey scientifically viable. Because of their secretive nature, black bears are tough to count. For years, the only data collected has been on bears killed by hunters, and that information centered primarily on age and population health. But the mark-and-recapture program was added last year to get more statistically significant numbers. In the �99 study, a pound of old bacon laced with tetracycline was nailed eight feet up a tree in hundreds of sites across the five Southwest Oregon counties, including 140 sites in Jackson and Josephine counties. Tetracycline is an antibiotic known to leave blue stains on teeth when viewed through black light, so the bears that eat it are considered "marked." The tetracycline will not harm the bear and will have no effect on the bear�s meat. But the bacon did not throw as intense a stench as expected, and only 17 of the 140 Rogue Valley baits were eaten by bears. This year, biologists at some bait stations used just the one-pound chunks of bacon. At others, the bacon was spiced up with chunks of some adult spring chinook salmon that died from a water-flow failure in June at the Cole Rivers Hatchery along the upper Rogue River. And at still others, the tampons soaked in a concoction of liquid smoke and grease from area restaurants was affixed to the bacon. Of the 125 bait sites used this year, biologists received verified bear bites at 30 of them, Wolfer says. Only 20 percent of the sites with just bacon lured bears, while the bacon-and-tampon combo had a 40 percent success rate, Wolfer says. But the bacon-and-salmon combo led the field with 57 percent success, Wolfer says. Now that the marked bears are all out there, biologists are asking for just one little bear tooth from hunters to round out this year�s data collection for the survey. The program is simple: Successful hunters are asked to extract one of the bear�s premolar teeth and place it in an envelope provided in the packet. These packets are then either dropped off at one of several check-in stations across Southwest Oregon or mailed to an ODFW office. Hunters who buy bear tags this year will be sent a letter detailing the program. Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA