Predatory bears??
 

I was talking to my uncle over the weekend down in PA. He claims a friend of his has trail cams up on the mountain andhas gathered seven pictures of black bear with fawns IN THEIR MOUTH over the last year. He claims that a lack of ground feed for the bears has caused them to follow the does and snatch the fawns right after birth. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I have to admit, I have not seen the pictures, but my uncle claims he has (and he is a someone I hold in high regard). He claims this is a major factor in the poor deer population in parts of PA as the bear population is quite high right now. Just curious about your thoughts.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Find a way to get the pictures, id be really interested in seeing them!

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Yes, I am trying to get a look at them. I have never heard of a black bear eating deer before. That is why I posted for opinions.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Its absolutely true!!

RE: Predatory bears??
 

I wouldn't have posted it if I thought is was untrue. My uncle is a great woodsman and hunter, but I have never heard of this before, so it caught me off guard when he mentioned it.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

During the fawn mortality study conducted by the PGC a few years back, they found bears to be FAR more of a threat to fawns than coyotes. If you go to the PGC page I'm sure you can look around and find the study.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

I've talked to guys that live in Northern Minnesota where our black bear population is and they've seen it 1st hand where a bear will take a fawn almost right away after the doe has the fawn. Its more common then one thinks I'm thinking.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Bears are heavy predators on fawns as well as turkey eggs and hatchlings.

Last spring my mom saw a fawn in the yard, moments later a bear moved through, she was outside and heard the scuffle and fawn distress. :( Law of tooth and claw.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

I've personally called in bears with predator calls, so it doesn't surprise me. IIRC, I believeit was actually a fawn bleat call I had one come into when yote hunting in Vermont 10+ years ago. They are very opportunistic feeders.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

That reminded me of last year, 06 I did the same thing for Kurt when a bear crossed a field angling away from us. I had him standing at the base of our tree looking up at us. :)

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Here's a little article about fawn mortality rates and what effects predation has.

http://aginfo.psu.edu/psa/fw2003/fawns.html

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Bears kill a pile of fawns in my area.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

I once saw a vid of a grizzly chasing down and killing an elk fawn, he must have chased that little guy for over two minutes before the fawn tried to leap a fallen tree's trunk and stumbled. If they'll go to that much trouble for a meal I see no reason why they wouldn't stake out a doe that was about to give birth and snatch the fawn. Like to see those pics too.

RE: Predatory bears??
 

Exactly and the coyotes are what everyone blames for the deer kill. Here in WVthe bear population is out of control. There are bears literally everywhere. But all you hear here is how the coyotes are killing all the deer. Yes I'm sure the coyotes have an impact also but I feel comfortable saying there are more bears in my area than coyotes.