Are there bears in oregon

With fewer than gray wolves in Oregon at last count, you are unlikely to come across one in typical wanderings.

Listed as a protected species under the Oregon Wolf Plan, the ones that do inhabit the state generally stick to the northeast corner near the Washington and Idaho borders.

Experts say the only time wolves become dangerous is when they feel their pups are threatened or if they get acclimated to people. To keep them safe, the ODFW says not to feed wolves or other animals they wish to prey upon and recommends keeping all food secure while camping. The rare exception is when they get used to humans feeding them and begin to feel entitled to whatever treats you may have in your pocket. In Ashland last year, the problem with aggressive ungulates became so acute that the mayor called a summit to discuss the issue.

Long story short: don't feed the deer. Though they have not always enjoyed the most stellar reputation, bats are harmless and spend most of their time eating pests and literally hanging out. They can carry rabies, however, though fewer than 1 percent are thought to be infected with the disease. Rabid bats are rarely aggressive and will likely die on their own of the disease, but if a sick bat bites or scratches you, or if you come into contact with its saliva, do your best to capture the bat and seek out a doctor.

But their well-known ability to spray an acrid musk from glands under their tails when they feel threatened will leave an unpleasant odor. Striped skunks — and their lesser-known relatives, the spotted skunk — are typically docile creatures that will leave you alone if you afford them the same courtesy.

If you are unfortunate enough to get sprayed, the internet has some remedies to help you deskunk. Porcupines can generally be found in the eastern half of Oregon, though a few sightings have been reported west of the Cascades. Mostly nocturnal animals, the animals can sometimes be seen during the day feeding in trees or doing other porcupine things. If you or your pet does end up stabbed by a quill, the best course of action is to seek out a doctor or veterinarian to remove them.

Oregon is home to at least a handful of elusive wolverines and the mustelids, which resemble small bears, have been spotted in Linn, Deschutes, Harney and Wallowa counties.

See if you can identify Oregon's poisonous plant species. Poisonous Plants. Definitely not an animal, but worth a warning anyway. Bear resistant containers and garbage cans. Among the suppliers are:. Most problems are caused by people feeding bears, either actively or inadvertently.

Once habituated to finding food near homes, bears can become a threat to human safety and must often be euthanized. Follow these guidelines to protect both humans and bears.

Angler, Hunter Guidelines Fishing or hunting in bear country, brings some additional challenges, so take extra caution. Hunting Black Bears Bears are hunted in Oregon in controlled hunting seasons. Cubs and sows with cubs are protected. Controlled Hunts Information. Important notice to bear hunters: ODFW researchers are asking successful bear hunters to submit the bear's premolar tooth and female reproductive organs to help with an important census study designed to more accurately estimate Oregon's bear population.

For more information, call your local ODFW office. Grizzly bears are brown and black bears are black. Not really. Adult bears are generally feet long, and 30 inches high at the shoulder; female bears typically weigh pounds and males typically weigh pounds. As would be guessed by their name, black bears' are normally black, with a brown muzzle, but they can be brown, cinnamon, blueish, and even white.

Black bears are solitary animals. Each bear roams across a large territory, with male bears having a home range of square miles. However, black bears do not defend their territory from other bears. Black bears use their strong climbing and swimming abilities, as well as their speed and agility to navigate their territories. The average lifespan of a black bear in the wild is years. Black bears reach sexual maturity at three to four years.

Mating occurs in June and July, during which males become aggressive and territorial, competing to mate with as many females as they can.

Females give birth to two to four cubs in the winter, while they are denning. Cubs remain with their mothers until the following spring, at which point females will breed again. Black bears first came under the management of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ODFW in when they were reclassified from a predator to a game animal.

This classification allowed ODFW to set limits on the hunting of black bear through designated hunting seasons, areas, and tag sales. Hunting is the tool ODFW uses to manage black bear populations in the state, and it is the primary cause of black bear mortality in Oregon.

As with cougar, black bear hunting and therefore management, was significantly affected by the passage of Measure 18 in , which bans the use of dogs and bait to hunt black bears and cougars. The decrease in black bear mortality that would have been caused by Measure 18 has been counteracted by a dramatic increase in the sale of hunting tags: 18, tags were sold in while 57, were sold in Indeed, mortality levels from hunting have reached pre-Measure 18 levels: 1, bears were killed by sport hunters in in Oregon, the same number killed in Although the number of bears killed by sport hunters has been maintained even in the face of Measure 18, in the last few years the total mortality of bears in Oregon has been increasing because of bears killed due to conflicts with humans.

The largest number of bears killed due to conflict are those that have caused damage or nuisance to humans or their property: in , out of non-hunting bear deaths were a result of nuisance or damage. The primary conflict that black bears are killed because of is damage to public and private commercial timber. In the spring, black bears peel the bark of saplings to access the sugar-rich sapwood. Unfortunately, this damages the vitality of the trees and sometimes leads to the tree's death.