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Deep Creek Lake: Same bear, different cubs

Sow gives birth under Garrett porch, again

Michael A. Sawyers Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — When Harry Spiker found out this past fall that there was a bear under the porch at a home on Beckman’s Peninsula at Deep Creek Lake, he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s the same bear that was under a porch with cubs two years ago,” said Spiker, a biologist with the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service.

In 2011, the 327-pound sow spent the winter and gave birth to cubs under the porch of a home in the Stilwater subdivision, another Deep Creek Lake community about 2 miles away made up mostly of upscale vacation homes.

This year, the bear weighed 353 pounds and was recently drugged and moved, along with four new cubs, to her own second home, that being the nearby Savage River State Forest.

“The homeowner was at his place last November and heard something under the porch,” Spiker said. “We checked, discovered it was a radio-collared bear, and he agreed to let her stay there.”

Spiker applauded the decision.

“That meant we didn’t have to drug her twice, once to move her away and again this spring to check her and her cubs.”

Spiker and his crew are halfway through the bear-den checking season.

“We’ve worked four bears already and have five to go,” he said Thursday.

Besides the porch bear, bruins have been checked in Garrett, Washington and Frederick counties.

A 300-pound sow was checked near the south end of Deep Creek Lake, but had no cubs.

The Frederick County bear, near Myersville, was 225 pounds, 6 years old and had three cubs. “This is her third litter of three cubs each,” Spiker said.

Spiker said when that bear was first trapped six years ago it had a hunting broadhead in its shoulder. “That is totally healed now,” he said.

In Washington County, a bear was worked Wednesday on Sideling Hill. That sow also had three cubs. The 9-year-old female weighed 230 pounds.

The sows and the cubs are in excellent shape, according to Spiker.

“There were plenty of acorns to eat last fall so the sows went into the dens in great physical condition,” he said.

Dens this year range from under large rocks to beside large rocks to up against logs in the open woods, according to the biologist.

Three of the five bears remaining on the checklist are in Allegany County — one on the Green Ridge State Forest, one near Rocky Gap State Park and one high on Dan’s Mountain.

The other two are in Garrett County.

“We try to maintain collars on 20 bears at any one time,” Spiker said.

Currently, 16 female bears are collared, but others will be captured and fitted with the tracking devices this summer.

Spiker said there are some bears already out of dens.

“The usual progression is that male bears come out first, then the sows with year-old cubs and then the sows with new cubs,” Spiker said.

He expects the last of the emerging bears to be out and about by the first week of April.

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.

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Jay Ferguson

Who I Am My name is Jay Ferguson, and I am a lifelong resident of the Deep Creek Lake area. I am also co-owner of the real estate side of Taylor Made. I have been in the real estate business for 21+ years now and I LOVE what I do! I have to say, my career really took off when I co-founded the real estate side of Taylor Made in 2014. Its been an amazing experience, building a real estate company from the ground up and achieving so much so quickly! In August 2016, we purchased Long & Foster Real Estate Deep Creek, where I had started my career in 2000. In 2018, we on-boarded virtually every agent from Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty as they closed up shop and the real estate family grew even more! We now have over 40 sales agents and have expanded to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Taylor Made is the #1 vacation rental company at Deep Creek with over 475 vacation rental homes, and over one hundred thousand yearly visitors. Its amazing what we have accomplished using the principles of honesty, teamwork and customer service! Personally, my wife Jessica and I enjoy traveling and especially spending time in the outdoors, hiking and exploring the many diverse areas that Garrett County is naturally blessed with. We have raised two wonderful children here, Kayleah (22) and Noah (13). In the summer, we love spending time on the water with friends & family and enjoying the lake life! We are both active in our church, our community & local school activities, and we fill our schedule with plenty of volunteer efforts. I currently serve on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud to say that I was named Deep Creek Time’s Favorite ‘Community Champion’ in 2019. I was also named Garrett County Realtor of the Year in 2018-19, as well. I really enjoy promoting my hometown. I am very proud of the resort area that has developed over my lifetime and look forward to growing the area even more! Deep Creek Lake has been described as ‘The Lake Tahoe of the east', and I think that speaks volumes about the potential to own property here! Deep Creek Lake isn't really a town or city by itself; it's comprised of three towns: Oakland, Swanton & McHenry, Maryland. I am very passionate about my hometown and am impressed with how many people know about it as we travel around the country. Deep Creek Lake is an amazing place to visit and even better place to live! During the pandemic in 2020, our market exploded and more and more people left their primary residence in the city to live here permanently. With distance learning in schools and tele-commuting becoming the ‘norm’, many more people were drawn to the area to ‘live where they love to play’. Why You Want Me Working for You: In addition to being an owner, I am consistently one of the top-producing agents in the entire area and the Associate Broker of record for Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I have 21+ years of experience and I am a problem solver. There aren’t many situations that I have not encountered and I have a strategy for almost every scenario that you may encounter. I have extensively trained in all areas of real estate & emerging technologies, and also have trained as an appraiser, as well as served as a full-time Broker. I have a strong knowledge of the industry, as well as many trusted local contacts & affiliations that allow me to perform at a very high level and deliver results. I have a great deal of respect for my peers in this industry and have strong working relationships that I would love to put to work for you. Call me to discuss your situation - I know I can be of great service to you & others you care about! Honesty. Integrity. Results.