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The Weekender ; What's happening in Homer this weekend?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES

• Homer preps for swine flu

• Pebble’s progress necessarily slow

• A dozen candidates file for city, borough offices

• Mayor Carey warns of ‘brown-outs’

• FYI

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

• In a cave . . . in the rain

• Jewel Kilcher returns home

• test

SPORTS

• Voz Cougars dominate eight-man football field

• Homer turns out in pink to run for the cure

• Homer Halibut derby standings

FEATURE

• When pigs fly

• Ninilchik pair finds net mending a dying art

BUSINESS

YOUTH

• Youth get creative about climate change

Brown bear kills moose 20 feet from home

• Kill caught on videotape, posted on YouTube

By Carey James
Homer Tribune

May 9, 2007

Photo by Gary Lyon

Gary and Terri Lyon, who have lived on East Skyline Drive for some 30 years, were shocked Sunday morning to see a brown bear kill a moose some 20 feet from their home. Footage of the incident can be seen on YouTube.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Gary and Terri Lyon heard noises outside their East Skyline Drive home. Their dog often entertains other neighborhood canines on the deck, and at first, Gary thought that's what he was hearing.
But the cadence wasn't quite right.
Gary got up, expecting to see a bear in the trash or a similar scene. He saw the bear all right, but the rest of the scene was beyond imagination.
Gary and Terri wound up with front-row seats as a brown bear killed a full-grown moose less than 20 feet away from their home.
"I saw this wildlife spectacle of a full-grown brown bear on a moose and the moose fighting for its life," Gary recalled Monday, admitting he was still rattled by the incident.
The couple ran downstairs and got the dog (which was remarkably quiet) inside. Then they got their cameras out.
The bear worked the moose down the driveway and finally killed it.
"She tore apart the chest cavity, ripped out the heart and ate it," Gary said. "It was like she knew that's what kept it alive."
Meanwhile, the digital cameras clicked and rolled as the entire incident was documented in both still and video footage. The video footage is now viewable on YouTube (type in "moose kill driveway" into the YouTube search bar.)
It seemed like much longer at the time, but the couple estimates the entire episode took only 10 minutes. After only a few mouthfuls, the bear left the moose and ran into the woods. The bear had been looking that way throughout the kill, and Fish and Game officials told the Lyons they suspect she has a cub nearby.
"You got the sense that this bear would rather not have had this happen in our yard," Gary said. "It grabbed a big mouthful and left."
After the bear left, the Lyons called the troopers, who contacted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Thomas McDonough, assistant area biologist for the Kenai Peninsula, responded and the moose carcass was moved a half-mile down the road. It was then picked up by a charity that will harvest the meat.
McDonough watched the footage, and guessed the bear to be a 400- to 500-pound female. The bear's footprints measured some nine inches wide. And the wildlife biologist predicted the bear would be back.
"It had just lost its hard-won prize," Gary said, and the predictions were right. The bear returned that night around 8:30 p.m., and there were more tracks in the morning.
The Lyons have done everything they can to remove any items of interest to the bear by raking up the tufts of moose-hair and bloody soil and spraying the area with bleach. For her part, the bear has maintained a healthy respect for her neighbors, staying out of any man-made materials.
Even so, they Lyons have kept the door locked and have played it safe. They aren't going for walks on their property right now, and when they do go out, they make a lot of noise. Hopefully, the bear will lose interest, and the moose will be the only victim of the incident.
"I've lived here for almost 30 years, and I've never had to shoot anything out of defense of property," Gary said. "It was just doing its own thing that the species has done forever. Unfortunately it was in our yard."
McDonough said the incident is not that unusual in that bears often kill moose, and the Homer area, both in and outside the city, support bear and moose populations. The fact that it occurred so close to this house, however, is unusual, he said.
"The biggest lesson is that this is a reminder that we live in bear country," he said. "Folks need to make sure that garbage, dog food, birdseed and anything that could be a calorie to a bear is in a house, a locked shed or a bear-proof container."
In addition, he said, beehives, chicken coops and livestock should be kept enclosed within electric fences that are properly installed.
Information about how to bear-proof your home can be found at www.wildlife.alaska.gov.
McDonough said the best way to stay safe when walking outside in the woods or on a semi-remote road or trail is to never surprise a bear.
"You can prevent surprises by always being aware of your surroundings," he said. "Make noise while walking and stay in groups. Two or three people having a conversation is a great way to make noise and stay relatively safe from surprising a bear. And keep your pets in check."
The bottom line, however, is that bears don't want to meet humans any more than humans typically want to meet bears, he said.
"In general, bears are wary about being around humans," McDonough said. "It's only when bears continually get human food rewards that the behavior changes."

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