The life of a young apple tree in bear country

[Diesel5610]

Hard for an apple tree to get to a point where it is safe from the bears in this neck of the woods. Found a couple small trees they snapped the top off for fun. Checking on my corn yesterday and found this guy having his way with a Dolgo crab that is 7-8 years old. This tree has had branches ripped off almost every year but keeps chugging along. Produces a ton of crabapples, bears usually leave them alone until fall. All I can do is laugh and keep planting trees.

https://imgur.com/p7GxwaH

 

[Apple Junkie]

I like your outlook Diesel. This is a great video of a little bear being a little bear. I've tried everything... caging, putting stove pipe on the trunk, picking low-hanging fruit early. Still, bears manage to do some damage every year. Like you, I plant a few more trees every year, and the ones already in the ground get a little bigger. I am glad you happened to be around to witness this, and thanks for sharing this guys antics.

 

[chummer]

I had one snap a tree in half last year with no apples on it. I mean there are other trees in the field edge, he has to pick that one. Worst part is once the season starts they disappear.

 

[MRBB]

I too am glad you can loom at things and not take it personally,
a bear is just like any other critter, you plant food they eat and well there going to eat it to survive, as that's all there trying to do

I live in a VERY high bear number area, I typically see 2-3 different bears here every day from about may till mid dec!
I count myself lucky to get to see things most folks never will
but do have to admit my apple tree are all OLD and rather bear tolerant, there so scared up with bear claw marks at this point, if anyone looked at the, they would have a hard time identifying the tree's if they looked at there bark/skin, as its not like normal apples trees after 50+ yrs of bears climbing almost daily half a yr!
and I don;t think there is any really way of stopping a bear from getting to a tree if they want it bad enough, there just so strong and able to push , pull , bend things

electric fence MAYBE the best, if done right, but, even that ain;t a sure thing, some will walk thru the ZAP to get to the rewards!, but it does stop a lot of them from my experience in high bear crop damage area's where we tried it!

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have had my trees snapped off as well, I take it a little more personally then some of you guys though. I only have room for about 25 trees, and I don’t need bear destroying a couple a year.

 

[NE PA QDM]

That video is great.
I feel your pain but I am less forgiving. I’m trying desperately to keep bears off of my 1 through 8 year old apple and pear trees with sporadic success. I just wish they would only damage them when fruit is present. Otherwise I think they are mostly being assholes.

 

[Diesel5610]

25 years ago a bear sighting here was a big deal, now they are everywhere. I have about a dozen 20-25 year old full grown trees on MM111 that they climb and break branches on but the trees are no worse for wear. Evidently sapsuckers are what I have to worry about with those, lol! Everything I have planted in the last 10 years takes a beating from the bears, I am wondering if any of them will ever make it to maturity where they are semi safe. I went from getting my blood pressure up to just laughing and shaking my head. Getting pissed is futile, the bears are literally everywhere here now and do what they do.

I knew this was basically what they were doing, first time I have caught one in the act. He ate a few more of the crabapples, let the tree spring back up and moved off after the video stopped. I about stepped on a sow with cubs under her in February while rabbit hunting. She had made a huge nest in a thicket and wintered there, I never saw her until she lifted her head next to me. My buddy got a great laugh out of how high I jumped. After my heart slowed down it was a very cool experience. We watched her for a few minutes, listened to the squeaking cubs under her then left her be. Future apple tree tormentors. They really like our property, especially the hinge cuts areas.

 

[NE PA QDM]

I just hope I can get my trees to the point where the bear damage is manageable.
it doesn’t help that I have a lot of multi-varietal trees with individually grafted branches. When they rip a branch off I lose a variety and it stings a bit even if they don’t kill the tree.
I have an efence around two of my orchards, it definitely helps but it’s not bulletproof.

 

[Diesel5610]

Well the tree didn't make it. Found it snapped off at the ground yesterday.

 

[NE PA QDM]

I lost about 20 trees last week from the bears. Snapped them at the base and did all kinds of damage. ****ing bears.

 

[MRBB]

Well the tree didn't make it. Found it snapped off at the ground yesterday.

well that usjkc for you as well as for NE PA QDM.

but sorry to say a bear is just trying to survive like every other animal out there, they don't know the difference in what YOU want and what they want, they just see things as FOOD and eat as they have to , to make it thru life!

E fence is your best bet if you want to try to stop them!


However I can also tell you this, bears don't have it all that easy, about 50% of all cubs DON"T make it thru there first yr, so plenty of bears every yr don't make it , just some apple tree's!(not this helps at all, just saying!)

and as a fact, I just had a female, bear here that I know very well, super easy to ID with her markings!
she t had 1 cub this yr, and she lost the cub in the last week in July, NOT sure what happened to it, but its been gone since, and as of last Wed ., she was back here with a big male dogging her (a second male following them but way smaller and younger guy) and then I seen them mate on Saturday night in my driveway!
Big male moved on and smaller male followed her next two days and seen HIM mate with her last night next to one of MY apple tree's
SO< the cycle repeats
ever yr I see bears MATING in my yard or driveway, I joke all the time about how they think my yard is for date nights!
cannot tell you how many bears mated here over the decades, but from late June till end of sept, every yr I see them at it a few times each summer!

and MY old apples tree's take a beating and keep on ticking! HAHA!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Missed this thread last month. I feel your pain Diesel. Even my mature trees are not 100% safe from bears. If they have any lean whatsoever, when bears climb them they are susceptible to being toppled and uprooted form the weight of the bear. I have lost many this way. I am in heavy bear country. Moose too. I have all but given up on apples. I try to maintain the ones I have, but gave up planting new ones a few years ago.

 

[Diesel5610]

I doubt I will ever buy any more trees, but I enjoy grafting so I always have a few trees ready to replace whatever I lose. I have a grafted All Winter Hangover crab ready to fill this spot this fall.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Same situation here as others. No bears here 15 or so years ago but now they ramble thru during prime grub time. Actually glad that not a good acorn or apple year. Get another year to grow unmolested on some trees.

Right now green acorns are preferred over green apples. A few larger trees have many branches tore off. Trees survive but future production is way lower as prime branches are ripped off the trees and only areas that dont grow much are left. So frustrating.

 

[Diesel5610]

My best Franklin. One of the original Franklins from Cummins Nursery on B118 (2016 I think without looking?) and was about 15' tall and had decent apples this year for the first time. Bear snapped it right off at the base and didn't even bother to eat any of the apples. Ripped a branch half off a small Dolgo on the opposite side of the field. I am starting to wonder if it is possible to get an apple tree old enough to survive the bears here anymore.

 

[Teeder]

That sucks.
I had a bear go through last summer and wrecked about 20 of my oaks in tubes. My best burenglish was completely wiped out.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have to go clean up an apple tree that was snapped in half.

 

[H20fwler]

Again….
I am so happy we don’t have bears in my part of the state!

 

[Teeder]

Again….
I am so happy we don’t have bears in my part of the state!

Yet!

 

[TreeDaddy]

Have you experienced the joy of feral hogs?

bill