By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – Hungry black bears emerging from hibernation often have to rely on natural green foods until berries and acorns are available, but they’ll happily skip the salad if they smell fried chicken in a garbage can or bird feeders loaded with tasty seeds.
Bears are usually up and active by April 1, said Todd Dowdy, district wildlife biologist with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR).
“You can write it on your calendar,” he said. “We start getting calls about bears in the garbage, the bird feeders.”
That’s when the state DNR encourages people to secure their garbage and take down their bird feeders, he said.
The peak of nuisance bear activity in West Virginia occurs in May and June when natural food sources are scarce, WVDNR officials said. High-energy foods, such as serviceberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries do not become available until later in the summer, which is why hungry black bears can be found in residential areas in the spring…
