Bears

[Al Agnew]

About rattlesnakes...neither MDC nor anybody else released rattlesnakes in the I-44 area. There WAS a study done of timber rattlers in that area, because it happens to have one of the densest populations of them anywhere in the state, and a lot of them were being killed on I-44.

Otters...I've said it before and I'll say it again...armchair quarterbacking. When the otters were being reintroduced, you couldn't have found 10 people in the whole state of Missouri who were against it. When they took hold, everybody was thrilled. Should MDC have foreseen the problems that resulted? Maybe. But with the knowledge they had, there weren't any danger signs. Otters coexist just fine with fish populations just about everywhere they are native. They don't have a lot of natural predators anywhere. And their normal reproductive rate is only about 1/4th the rate it has been in MO since reintroduction. The problem is that reintroducing them turned out to be like introducing a totally new species, in that the species was moving into an ecological niche that had been unexploited before, and the native fish populations had been long enough without otters that they had few real defenses against otter predation. So the otters exploded beyond anybody's expectations.

Fact is, when turkeys were reintroduced throughout the Ozarks, the same thing happened in that the turkey population exploded, but of course we didn't mind that! It was nothing to see flocks of 200-400 turkeys in the winter 20-30 years ago. Now, the turkeys have settled into numbers compatible with their habitat, and we often complain that the turkey population is way down. I hope, and I somewhat expect, that otters will eventually do the same thing, settle into numbers compatible with their habitat and food supply. It will probably mean a few less fish, especially on smaller streams with poor habitat, but the fish will eventually develop better natural defenses to otter predation.

[hank franklin]

Would the float fishers on here recommend bear-proofing gravel bar camps? I've never done it. Had some raccoons on the Current last year open a plastic box so I now pretty much put everything secured in dry bags. Don't imagine a dry bag would stop a bear though.

Any thoughts?

[Al Agnew]

It's something to think about. I didn't think to be worried about the one MO black bear I've seen, which was on the Jacks Fork while on a solo three day float trip, but maybe I should have worried a bit about it!

[ndwoods]

We have a cabin around Spavinaw ,Ok.Thats not too far from Joplin.There have been bear sightings for years in that area .There is also alot more cougar sightings as well.

[jefly77]

I worked at a summer camp in NE Pennsylvania during the summers of 01 & 02 and the bears were all over the place up there. We had 3 that regularly visited the camp dumpsters at night and a sow with yearling cubs came within 20 yards of me and a group of kids while we were on the ropes course. Usually they would just ramble off into the woods in no big hurry. The camp director had to run them off occaisonally with popper shotgun shells and bean bags. They ran like hell after that. They didn't seem to have much fear of man during the summer months, but the man who looked after the camp in the fall, winter, and spring told me that as soon as hunting season starts, the bears virtually disappear. My fellow counselors and I ran off a couple with rocks and loud yells. Black bears typically aren't dangerous, you're supposed to stand your ground and fight if one does attack.

Jefly