drm@stolaf.UUCP (Dave Marquardt) (08/29/85)
Minneapolis Star and Tribune, Thursday, August 29, 1985
Boorish bears wear out welcome in Duluth
Associate Press
Duluth, Minn.
In China, this is the year of the ox. But in Duluth, without
question, 1985 is the year of the bear.
For reasons that are less than clear, record numbers of black
bears have been seen in the city as well as across much of
northeastern Minnesota this summer.
And these bears are bold--too bold for comfort, say officers of
the Department of Natural Resources, who have shot at least a
dozen in the past week rather than take chances. Normally they
simply trap bears that wander into the city and release them far
out of town.
Among this summer's bear doings:
o+ Between 7 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday, 12 people called the
police emergency number, 911, requesting assistance with bears.
In addition, said Sgt. Dennis England, "We've been handling a
whole bunch of calls on our nonemergency number."
o+ About 5 a.m. on July 9 a large bear sitting on an air condi-
tioning vent took a swipe at a restaurant window. The window
shattered, much to the terror of the three Duluth police officers
having breakfast on the other side. The wayward bruin vanished
before the officers could get up from the floor.
o+ On Aug. 7 a bear trying to run across a busy highway ran into a
taxi near Miller Hill Mall and limped away.
o+ On Aug. 14 a Duluth Township man shot and killed a 350-pound
bear that had been terrorizing neighbors since late July, when in
crashed into a house where a woman was along, taking a shower.
o+ That same week, Duluth doctors Larry Lemaster and Mike Hieb
were running on a trail in Hartley Field with their Labrador re-
trievers when Lemaster's dog encountered a bear. "The next thing
we know the bear is chasing the dogs and the dogs are running to-
ward us," said Lemaster. "Pretty soon all five of us are running
down the trail." The parade of fright ended when the bear lost
interest.
o+ In Zenith Terrace, a mobile home park on the city's western
edge, a bear was blamed for a heating-oil spill that may end up
costing thousands of dollars to clean up. The bear was trying to
enter a mobile home and stood on the tank, breaking off a spigot.
The mobile home had to be moved to get at the spill. "We've been
seeing bears every night," said manager Wayne Yamry.
o+ Residents of Aftenro, a group home for elderly people, could
set their watches last week by a bear's visits each evening to
the home's garbage cans. The cans were locked in a shed. The
bear ripped off the door to get to them.
Game wardens say that once a bear has enjoyed a garbage smorgas-
board, somehow insects, berries and nuts lose their appeal, and
the bears usually return to get humans' food.
Darrell Hanson, a DNR enforcement officer, said he's getting 20
bear calls a day. "In the past six seasons I've only had to
shoot two," he said. "I've shot nine in the past week. It bugs
me to have to shoot them, but it's because of the increasing day
activity. Bears are out in yards with kids at 3 in the after-
noon."
Mario Larrabure, 13, a Duluth newspaper carrier, had to delay
delivery Friday morning because a bear was hanging around his pa-
per bundles. "It's a lot more fun than when you see them in the
zoo," he said.
Conservation officers have offered explanations for the bear in-
vasion ranging from a bad wild berry crop to a possible infesta-
tion of insects that drove the bears from the woods.
Not surprisingly, Duluth tourist industry boosters offer another
explanation: Bears like Duluth, where the scenery is breathtak-
ing, the people are friendly, the food is good and interesting
things happen. The Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau has ad-
ded a Bear Affairs Division, which has a 24-hour Bear Watchers
Hotline complete with an "extended bear outlook."