Chocolate poisoning of bears!!

As the bait season approaches. Thought it may be a good idea to bring this up. Just like with dogs, and many other animals. Chocolate can kill bears. Any type of Chocolate can do it. It just takes larger amounts to do it of some types. This is something we all need to keep in mind with our baiting practices. Sure if you put down 2 gals of mixed chocolate it may not hurt an adult bear. yet if a cub gets into it. The odds of death go way up. Other critters that get into as well could be harmed. Even birds can fall prey to this.

MI is looking at banning the use of chocolate for this reason. It takes about 8oz's of bakers chocolate to kill a 50lb dog. The same amount would also kill a 50lb cub. Most of the baits are milk chocolate. So larger amounts are needed. Not sure what it takes to akill a dog with milk chocolate off hand. Most dogs would not eat that much of it. A bear cub however would.

So as you are baiting this year. Keep this in mind. If using chocolate. Use it in smaller amounts mixed with other baits. Hopefully then reducing the damage done without intention.

Steve

"It takes about 8oz's of bakers chocolate to kill a 50lb dog"

Thanks for the tip. If my neighbors dog doesn't stop barking, I may have to go chocolate shopping.

Yeah Bearpawz I do have a real beef with them. Its bad enough the DNR want everyone to shoot every deer that walks. Now we have to deal with the over populated bear that will take down every single deer they can get. Its alot more then people think it is. Its not a matter of being a bad sportsman, I love to hunt all big game animals but the predators need to be thinned and it is our responsibiliy to do it.

I read a couple posts back about farmers not feeding chocolate to pigs, I worked 34+ years at NESTLE in Burlington and we sold tons of chocolate waste to a local pig farmer and yes I did say tons (2000 lbs) all the time. One thing the pigs didn't like was raisins the farmer would cut down the mix % to get them to eat it. When we had spills sometimes we would shovel up thousands of pounds and send to the farmer as salvageable waste.

Hell of a sportsman you are there houndsman78, while I am sure you realize it, but obviously don't care, I'll say it anyway, Bears are not the only animal out there in the Woods! It also seems you have a real beef with Bears? Or some other under lying hatred for wildlife or the lack of appreciation of them... I'll quote JK below,,, The remark about the population of bear and the comment about not seeing any dead carcasses around isn't the point-its the idea of just being responsible !

The topic doesn't really only cover the concern for Bears, it goes farther then them...

You know those little things called cameras? Well Ive been feeding chocolate for a long time and have the same bears year after year. Kinda shoots that theory right in the arse. Plus who really cares if some of them get sick and die. There are way to many bear in this state and since the DNR like to make people wait 10 years to possibly shoot one, something has to thin out the population.

My first thought reading the last few posts was unbelievable. Then again it's not for the gripe site.

Like I said in an earlier post with the dogs. It is not a gun shot to the head. It's the complications that come from it. So it is very unlikely to see a dead bear at the bait pile. Heck it is very rare to find any dead animal.

This is a concern to use caution with. Since there is a good chance you may have more than one bear hitting a bait. You top of your stump with say 1lb of fudge. That would not be enough to do more than make an adult bear get the squirts. Yet it would be enough to possibly kill a cub!! Not on the spot, but later from a whole host of complications.

Heck, even anti freeze does not kill on the spot. If you were using something like golden malrin then maybe they would not go far.

I bet you won't find any farmers feeding their hogs large amounts of chocolate. I wonder why.

This thread was to make folks more aware of the possible toxic effects on wildlife by feeding large amounts of chocolate.

Folks do feed large amounts of it. I see baits filed with chocolate covered cherries, mints, fudge, cookies, and the list goes on. Chocolate is fairly cheap. Like the rest of bait out there it can easily be found for 12cents a lb or less. Granted most of this stuff is milk chocolate so the effects are less. Yet if a cub sits down and engulfs 10lbs of chocolate covered cherries. There is enough chocolate in that to potentially kill the cub.

My comment was to question the validity of his concern. He is saying that there is a problem. From the physical evidence seen and observed, there doesn't appear to be a problem.

I myself cannot see where the problem is with wildmans comment about the choclate. He never said not to use it just try to stick with smaller amounts-and if you have already baited bear in the past you should have learned this anyway. The remark about the population of bear and the comment about not seeing any dead carcasses around isnt the point-its the idea of just being responsable.

I would see it as a valid issue if the bear population was taking a hit(which it obviously is not!!), or we were coming on bear carcasses spread all over the woods. Also, at the cost of chocolate, people are using small amounts and using breads and other fillers. They don't fill a stump from the top to the bottom with chocolate. Bears are also extremely similar to pigs when it comes to digestive systems. They can eat pretty much anything and be OK. Thanks for your concern.....

The following is from the Michigan DNR website- " In the past, there have been some concerns expressed to the DNR regarding the possibility of poisoning of wildlife with chocolate at baits established for bears. Theobromine or Chocolate poisoning has been observed in Michigan in the past, occurring in raccoons in 2002 and 2005. These poisonings occurred at bear bait sites in Alpena, Otsego, and Dickinson counties and in all cases involved finding multiple dead raccoons on the bait sites. It may be possible for a bear to be poisoned by chocolate, but due to the size of the animal and the amount of chocolate that would need to be consumed, mortalities have not been observed and would not be likely. This and additional future disease issues may require further changes to bear baiting regulations in Michigan."

That's not true either!!! The chemical theobromine is toxic to animals. Just like ethyl glycol is. Caffeine is also present is chocolate which poses a problem.

It's not like a bullet to the head. They don't eat a piece of chocolate and fall over dead! Enough has to be ingested to become toxic. Then the complications of the poisoning is what kills them.

Faster than you can post something ignorant. A simple search can be done to find the facts. Might not be a fun as being controversial on everything, but at least you won't look like a fool.

Steve

It only kills those who are allergic to it.

Flyod- I would find a new vet if I were you. In fact please give us her name so we know who not to go to. It is a proven fact that chocolate can kill animals. Certain types are more toxic, so amounts will vary. A few other things also come in to play such, as age, and weight. So a 200lb bear may not have the problems as a 30lb cub. Same with dogs. in fact recent MI studies have found coons dead near baits with high amounts of chocolate.

Do a simple goggle search on the matter. Don't believe that. Well then give your own dog about 8oz of bakers chocolate for 50lbs. Let us know how things work out for you!

Even though I have not had the extensive experience in whether or not choclate will cause poisening in animals- I do know first hand that bears even though they love choclate and malasses, if they take in to much they will get the runs from it and they will leave that bait alone until something else has been placed there. I have seen it on my own lines time and time again and learned that some things should only be used in certain amounts.

Some years ago after being told once again that chocolate would kill bears I called our vet and spent over an our talking about the subject. She believed that if a person fed bears large amounts pure chocolate they may become groggy and thirsty but it would be very unlikely to kill them. In over 20 years as a vet she has never seen a case of chocolate poisoning in any animal dogs, cats, etc. Everyone has their own thoughts on the subject and should follow their own beliefs in bear baiting there is NO rite or wrong.