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NATURE IN
GOOSE ISLAND HIDE AWAY
Nature in
Goose Island |
Living with Goose Island Wildlife
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Living With Goose Island Wildlife
Richard Bondi
One of the pleasures of living in Goose Island is sharing
it with a wide variety of abundant wildlife. We are graced
with many species of resident and migrant songbirds,
hummingbirds, hawks, vultures, owls, herons, wild turkeys,
and, of course, geese. We have the chance to see the
white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoon, opossum, flying
squirrel, grey squirrel, fox, coyote, skunk, otter,
weasel, bat, and many small rodents, amphibians, snakes,
butterflies and bugs. Most of our encounters with these
creatures are pleasant and exciting, though deer mice in
the crawl space and squirrels in the attic often try our
patience. And many of us are ambivalent about encountering
three of our wild neighbors, the copperhead, timber
rattler, and the black bear. This handout discusses these
three animals in particular and offers sources and tips
for living among them.
Living with Venomous Snakes
Of the many beneficial species of snakes in our area, two
are venomous and need to be given a wide berth. The
copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and the timber or
canebrake rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) occur throughout
the North Georgia mountains and, like all snakes, play an
important role in controlling the vast numbers of small
rodents, voles and shrews in our area. Copperheads and
timber rattlers are generally shy, retiring and
non-aggressive snakes usually encountered by accident
trying to get away from our approach. While neither snake
is really common here, copperheads are more numerous than
rattlers. Both snakes often lie in leafy piles waiting to
ambush prey, or come out on the roadsides to warm their
cold-blooded bodies.
These snakes may strike when threatened or surprised, but
can only strike about one-third of their body length.
Staying away from a snake you see is the best defense
against getting hurt. Some people use commercial products
to try to establish a snake-away perimeter around their
homes or gardens, but these products have mixed success
rates, have to be regularly reapplied, and might also keep
away non-venomous snakes you might like to work on your
mice.
You can best discourage snakes by discouraging
the mice and other small mammals on which they
prey. That means keeping brush piles and logs
away from porches and patios, and carefully
controlling garbage, grains, seed, and birdfeed
to prevent animal access. You can also avoid
encounters by watching where you step or put
your hands in wooded, brushy, or leafy areas,
and by carrying a waking stick to poke about in
suspicious areas before entering them.
In the unlikely event of a snakebite, try not to
panic (these are not especially poisonous snakes
compared to the venomous snakes of South
Georgia). Call 911 at once. Report which type of
snake bit you. Loosen clothing around the bite
and if possible remove shoes, watches or
jewelry. Avoid exertion, do not drink alcohol
and do not cut around the bite or try to suck
out the venom. Just rest and wait for the
paramedics!
Living with Bears
Bears have been in Goose Island long before we
came along. The black bear (Ursus americanus) is
found in forested areas throughout the North
Georgia mountains. A population large enough to
support a hunting season is centered in the Rich
Mountain Wildlife Management Area right across
the highway from Goose Island. The bears we see
are likely less dominant bears who have been
pushed out of the wilder areas into GI, or
younger bears extending their range to avoid
hunting and competition.
Black bears, while not normally aggressive, are
wild and potentially dangerous. Adult black
bears range from 150 to 500+ pounds and are
tremendously strong for their size. They are
omnivorous and opportunistic, eating everything
from berries to grasses to animals to bird seed
to garbage. They are excellent climbers and
swimmers and run at speeds up to 30 miles an
hour. They usually run away from human
encounters unless they have become so habituated
to human presence that they become bolder and
pushy in search of food. Human injuries normally
occur by accident as a bear is pushing for food,
or by the bear defending itself from human
encroachment or molestation. There have been
rare but documented instances of predatory black
bears stalking and attacking humans, most
recently a few years ago in the Smokies. To be
safe, encounters with bears should be minimized
and bears should not be encouraged to interact
with humans. We should respect their wildness
from a distance safe enough for us and them.
A fed bear is a dead bear. Feeding bears
habituates them to human presence in a way that
ultimately leads to negative consequences for
humans and bears alike. The surest way to
shorten a bear's life is to teach it to
associate food with humans. In our area very few
bears live out their natural life span. Most are
killed by humans through hunting, human
aggression, or vehicular accidents. Even so,
wild bears live 23% longer than bears habituated
to human food sources. And the risks are not
only to the bears. Put simply, feeding bears
endangers yourself and your neighbors. It is not
a risk you can assume only for yourself, as the
bear extends the association to other humans.
The best way to discourage bears is to deny them
a source of food. Without food rewards bears
will eventually go on to more productive areas,
or pass quickly through Goose Island on their
way to reliable food. Here’s how to deny bears
food:
-
Don’t leave garbage outside unless it is in a
bear-proof container.
-
Don’t feed deer or wild turkey at ground
stations between April and November.
-
Don’t feed songbirds between April and November
unless you use feeders the bears cannot reach.
Contact me for suggestions in this regard.
-
If you are feeding deer or birds at ground
stations in the winter and notice bear activity,
stop feeding for at least a week. If the
activity persists you may not be able to feed on
the ground at all. Unfortunately you can’t feed
“just the deer” when bears are around.
-
Store bird seed in plastic or metal containers
inside your cabin or closed garage, or in a
securely closed crawl space.
-
Don’t let an outdoor grill build up grease or
food scraps.
-
Don’t leave food out on picnic tables, etc.
unattended.
-
If approached by a bear, don’t leave food behind
when you exit the area.
-
And of course, never feed bears intentionally.
What to do if you encounter a bear.
-
Don’t run. This simply triggers the bear’s
predatory instinct, which is exactly what you
don’t want to do!
-
Don’t approach the bear—give it plenty of room
to escape, which is most likely what it wants to
do.
-
Don’t stare the bear in the eyes. Do look at its
feet—that tells you where it’s going.
-
Don’t scream, but Do make noise. Clap your
hands, speak in a loud voice, shine bright
lights on the bear. Some people carry and use a
loud whistle.
-
Do make yourself look larger. Raise your hands
over your head, spread your arms, stand next to
someone if you are not alone. With your voice
and your looks you are trying to identify
yourself as human and to intimidate the bear.
-
Do back away from the bear slowly and let it
leave the area before you do.
What to do in the unlikely event that a black
bear attacks.
-
Do not play dead. That advice works only for
certain kinds of defensive attacks by grizzly
bears, when they are just trying to see if you
are a threat. An attacking black bear must be
repelled with force.
-
Fight Back! Use anything you have at your
disposal: pepper spray, sticks, stones, knives,
your hands and feet. You are trying to show the
bear you are too much trouble to eat!
A word about pepper spray.
-
Pepper spray has proven valuable in repelling an
attacking black, brown or grizzly bear. It is
not a guarantee of safety, but when properly
used it sends most bears packing. You must hit
the bear in the face with an FDA approved bear
power pepper spray, not a small self-defense
spray. Approved sprays have a range of 15 to 25
feet depending on the spray, the weather, and
the skill of the user.
-
Pepper spray does not work like bug repellant!
Spraying it around a cabin or a tent will not
repel bears and may actually attract
them—remember, it’s a powerfully concentrated
food product.
-
Don’t use pepper spray unless you know what
you’re doing. If you spray yourself or a
companion you will be temporarily blinded and in
great pain until you can wash it off, but
meanwhile the bear suffers nothing and you are
incapacitated.
-
If you have pepper spray, store it out of the
reach of children. It is terribly painful—that’s
the reason it works—and it could set off an
asthma attack in those prone to breathing
problems.
How Georgia handles problem bears.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is
the agency that takes care of issues with bears
in residential areas. Their phone number for
nuisance wildlife is 706-295-6041. The GDNR
first advises people to take the steps outlined
above of denying bears a food source and
minimizing contact between bears and humans.
They are reluctant to take the step of capturing
and relocating bears for several reasons. It
takes time and luck to capture a bear safely.
Once relocated, most bears try to find their way
back to familiar territory, and many are killed
or injured by vehicles along the way, or become
a nuisance to other residential areas as they
pass through. Even if they stay in the new area,
they usually come into conflict with its
resident bears, resulting in death or injury or
being driven back into still other residential
areas. So the GDNR stresses the importance of
denying food sources to bears. In the case of
extensive property damage or hostile encounters
with humans, trapping and relocation remains a
possible solution. Locally, please report bear
sightings or bear-caused damage to Woody Fowler
at 706-698-5757.
Some resources on living with wildlife.
Bears, snakes and other animals are part of our
rich wildlife heritage, and they help make
living in the North Georgia mountains such a
wonderful experience. They deserve our respect
and protection, and this requires us to live
calmly and wisely among them. Learning more
about wildlife helps us live with animals
happily and safely. The following resources
contain valuable information. Please feel free
to contact me if I can be of any further
assistance.
For general information about wildlife in our
area of North Georgia, visit the
Chattahoochee National Forest Toccoa Ranger
District Office
6050 Appalachian Highway
Blue Ridge, Georgia 30513
706-632-3031
For more information about snakes in Georgia,
see
http://www.uga.edu/srel/snakebrochure.htm.
For the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
site, see
http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us
The GDNR Fact Sheet on black bears is at
http://www.georgiawildlife.com/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=90&txtPage=1
Good information on bears can be found at the
following sites:
http://www.bebearaware.org/
http://www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/resources/features/Feature-bears.htm
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