Here is your chance to learn about the black bears of New Hampshire with acclaimed naturalist and author, Ben Kilham at the Tin Mountain Conservation Center program Black Bears of New Hampshire on Friday, April 9 at 7 PM at the Tin Mountain Nature Learning Center, 1245 Bald Hill Road in Albany, NH. According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, black bears are found in 10 counties in the state of New Hampshire. Some local residents observe their furry neighbors at their bird feeder in the spring, as uninvited guests for leftovers in their trash, or meet up with them while hiking in the woods. Some long time residents are still trying to meet their elusive five to six foot tall, 256 to 330 adult neighbors. Whether you think of bears as a marvel or a nuisance, with such frequent sightings and unannounced visits you may want to learn more about your black bear neighbors from someone who knows them first hand.
“As we learn more about bear behavior, we better understand bear/human conflicts,” Kilham said. “We begin to learn that it’s not a nuisance bear at all. It’s the way people are leaving food around and interacting with bears.” Kilham reveals that black bears are highly social individuals. They have the ability to plan and communicate through both physical and verbal language.
Ben Kilham attended the University of New Hampshire and earned a degree in wildlife management. In the spring of 1992, Ben found himself parenting a pair of orphaned, emaciated, four pound bear cubs. The experience eventually led him to parenting over forty cubs, releasing them back in the wild, and researching and observing the whole life cycle of the black bear. By thinking more from the bear’s perspective, Ben has designed workshops that provide wildlife management with the tools to disarm threatening bear behavior without destroying the bear.
Ben Kilham also discovered an organ on the roof of the black bears’ mouth, named the Kilham organ. The organ acts a receptor allowing female bears to teach their young which plants are edible. “The nose is the finder,” says Kilham, “but the organ is the identifier.”
Ben Kilham has been featured in National Geographic television specials and articles, The New York Times, People’s Magazine, The Boston Globe, as well as the “Today Show”, Dateline NBC, CBS Coast to Coast and “The Late Show with David Letterman” and many others. This is a great program for all ages. Be sure to tell your “neighbors”. This program fills up quickly to reserve your spot call TMCC at 603-4447-6991.
Tin Mountain Conservation Center Nature Programs are funded in part by L.L. Bean and the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS). TMCC Nature Programs are open to the public and donations of $3.00 per person and $5.00 per family are appreciated. Tin Mountain Conservation is a 501 3 (c) environmental education organization serving the greater Mount Washington Valley for over thirty years.