Gary Alt said PA could support double the bear population but could not keep up with the bear complaints because of the population.

Yes, I remember that. Back when he was a hero for his successful efforts to rebuild the population. Before he was vilified for his antler restriction proposals.

Everyone is talking about low numbers and I had no clue Georgia’s was that high, lol. Every time I say we don’t have any where I live someone always tells me how many they see, sorta like the black panthers. I knew the East part of the State has some and I’d assume the mountains in the North.

Very interesting thanks everyone for the info.

Gonna have to seriously disagree with the stats from Mn?

....Gulo, PIOMA's??????

You want to know where the bears are just talk to beekeepers.

I'm pretty sure all those estimates are based on Mark Recapture, Line Transect Surveys, and Hair sample DNR testing.

WannaBe,
Are u a blk panther believer?

Btw...our bear population is about 3000 in the North Ga mountains, about 500 Ocmulgee River area just south of Macon, and about 1500 in SE Ga centered around the Okefenokee Swamp.

I'll take a stab at that....pulling it out my a**???

I wish NC hunters would kill at least half of that 20K. The bears are getting to be a nuisance around here. About as bad as having homeless people around.

If you think about it a bear is just an over grown coon.

That's funny, because earlier today I told a guy who came to buy 12 young homing pigeons, to replace the ones he lost over the weekend, while he was at Gettysburg, that a coon is like a small bear. He had a coon climb up on his loft and pull hard enough on a folded up landing board to break the wooden toggle, that was on the inside, holding it in place. Coons give me lots of repeat business.

Keith

Like KeithC we recently had a few show up on people's decks in suburbs....my guess is we have bears in the Shawnee and further west towards the Iowa line.

J. Morse and Jumper -

You've got it exactly right Jumper! I've been using the word "PIOMA" for many decades. It's evolved into a pretty common part of the language in Alaska. White17 is certainly familiar with the word.

Jack

This was last night, county just to the south of me in the northern part. Maybe ten miles tops.

https://fb.watch/l8gTK0Bl-O/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Swamp, that would be a NO. When scientist can’t produce a melanistic cougar, then I’m extremely skeptical that as many as people “see” do exist in the wild. Now that’s not saying a circus didn’t have a black Jaguar escape or something, but it’s sorta like Bigfoot. After all these years, one would’ve been shot or hit by a car. Every photo is grainy. They never walk in front of an expensive trail cam, it’s always the cheapest cam, or foggy, or Smokey, or raining, or snowing, or something that just leaves that “it could be” look.
I frequent the same areas these “black panthers” supposedly are spotted and I’ve yet to see one or hear one. The best I get are folks sending me recordings that have to be a cougar. They done talk to me for months when I send them a recording of a fox somehow making that identical sound, lol. No sir, I don’t believe in them.

Just saw this on OBX Facebook ( North Carolina). Bear at the beach.


picture hosting

The US Weather Service uses PIOMA's every day.

The other prominant statistical device that I recall is the TAMO....

I learned about TAMO in a class on upper air stream physics. TAMO is particularly useful in complex mathematics.

I live in unit 25 in eastern interior Alaska and supposedly we have the highest black bear density in the entire state. The bag limit is 5 black bears and the season is open year round.