We had commented some weeks back that ohio, a State that has been largely deforested and farmed extensively since the early 1800's along with having multiple large and settled Metropolitan Areas(Clevelend Cincy, Columbus, Dayton) is once again with enough re-grown wild lands for tthe Bobcat and Black Bear to re-establish breeding populations............with Bobcats making rapid progress(my alma mata, Ohio U. in Athens, County, sitting in and around what was once coal strip mined lands now has healthy community of BOBS) and Black Bear sightings on the rise..................Let us remember that in the Colonial period 1600-1800, Ohio was the "wild west" of British America..............the frontier West of the Appalachian Mountains that harbored wolves, cougars, buffalo, elk....as well as bobcats and black bears..........Two of these keystone predators are back with us in the Buckeye State............A triumph to be celebrated!

Bears, bobcats making comeback in Ohio

By Jon Baker

Officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, are seeing increasing evidence that black bears and bobcats are making a comeback in the state.
In 2010, there were 64 confirmed sightings of bears, up from 51 in 2009, and 106 verified sightings of bobcats, up from 92 in 2009. Both animals are listed as endangered species in Ohio and are protected by state law.

According to Suzie Prange, a wildlife research biologist with ODNR based in Athens, there were five sightings of black bears in Tuscarawas County in 2010, but only one was confirmed, where a bear had damaged fruit trees. Harrison County had five confirmed sights (one was a nuisance complaint involving damage to a deer feeder), Carroll had two unconfirmed sightings, Holmes had one unconfirmed sighting and Coshocton County had none.Prange is aware of only two instances of bears being shot and killed in Ohio in the last four years, and both occurred in the Tuscarawas Valley. A bear was shot by a hunter in western Harrison County last year and another was shot by a property owner in Coshocton County in 2008. One bear was hit by a vehicle in Morgan County last June, but the bear got up and walked away, Prange said.  Most bear sightings are in northeast and south-central counties. Athens and Portage counties had 13 sightings each.There were two confirmed sightings of bobcats in Coshocton County, two confirmed sightings in Harrison County and one in Tuscarawas County in 2010, she said. "Bobcats are doing well in Ohio and are increasing every year," Prange said. About 70 percent of the animals live in Noble, Belmont and Monroe counties, but some are moving into Harrison and Jefferson counties. She said they liked reclaimed strip mine land with second-growth timber and underbrush.
But bobcats don't cross highways well. Prange said there were 42 bobcat roadkills in Ohio last year, most of them in Noble, Belmont and Monroe counties.The number of bears aren't increasing as fast because they have a slower reproductive cycle than bobcats, Prange said. Sightings go up and down over the years. "It takes a long time for their population to grow," she said.