From: R Fisher (ghotier@texas.net)
Date: Tue Dec 04 2001 - 20:21:10 CST
marty@wavemark.com wrote:
> How many undesired bear contacts are there at Philmont in a summer?
Understanding that ANY human-bear contact has a potential for undesirable
consequences, let me just say that I was at the PTC the first week of August and
we had bears in camp at the PTC (just behind Villa Philmonte) every night. One
morning a bear was tree just outside the dining hall before breakfast. There were
also bears, including at least one sow with a cub, in Camping Headquarters/Tent
City during the week.
>From my perspective, it was thrilling to see these wild creatures, but like I
said, every encounter has the potential.
There were no incidents that I am aware of; in discussions with the Phil Pholk,
the bears responded favorably to harassements (they ran) and did not get in any
tents or gear. This is good news for the bears since it means that they will not
be relocated or destroyed. They were just looking for food - there are the
remains of an apple orchard near and in the PTC area. They also mentioned that
this was VERY unusual, but was due to a great extent to the lack of other food
sources in the mountains (they had bear incidents in downtown Raton the same week
and a lady shot a bear in her house in Red River or Angel Fire the following
week). There was a late freeze last spring that basically killed the acorn crop
that the bears rely on for "consuming mass quantities" prior to going into
hibernation. With this food source gone, they were doing the best they could.
Hopefully, the Philmont bears will be with us for a long time. As Signe reminds
us, it is up to us to make sure our visitation doesn't do anything to make the
relationship one other than mutual respect.
Happy Trails,
Roy Fisher
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