Town’s “problem” bears show more aggression in August

And a mountain lion sighting to boot…

The bear problem in the area is escalating as the bruins prepare for their winter hibernation. There have been dozens of reports of bears breaking into Crested Butte homes and it appears the bears are becoming more aggressive.

Town marshals met with representatives of the Colorado Division of Wildlife Monday and will investigate how to step up bear precautions. Ultimately, an additional bear trap will probably be brought up to Crested Butte, and if the bears are trapped, they will be destroyed.
“We will be taking a more aggressive stance,” said J Wenum of the DOW. “There are legitimate public safety concerns. We will try to figure out some new approaches. But again, we live in an area with a variety of wildlife species, including bears. We need to take some responsibility and try to avoid confrontations.”
Wenum reiterated the need to lock doors and windows and keep items that might be attracting bears, like pet foods, out of easy reach for the bears.
“I would say it is getting to be a dangerous public safety situation,” said Crested Butte chief marshal Tom Martin. “The bears have gone from breaking into vehicles last summer to going into homes this year. That is not a safe situation. It is beyond dealing with problem bears.”
While Wenum says Crested Butte has done a tremendous job with trash management, he adds, “Everyone needs to take the next step. It’s like a burglar. If everyone is aware that a burglar is roaming the neighborhood, they take the proper steps to avoid having their home broken into.
In this case the burglar is the bear. So the trash has to be secured. The windows and doors need to be locked. The easy food has to be kept away from windows and doors so the bears can’t smell it. This needs to happen every night for a while.
“Bears are in the midst of preparing for hibernation,” Wenum continued. “They are looking for a quick, easy meal where they don’t have to expend many calories. They want to store fat for the winter, so they want to pack on the calories for the winter without using a lot of energy. We need to make it hard for them to find that food.”
Martin said there are probably three “problem” bears in Crested Butte causing the majority of the dangerous situations. The effort will be ramped up to catch them and ultimately destroy them.
“For us it is becoming an eight-month problem, with bears seen in town up until October and as early as March,” said Martin. “We are responsible for public safety and the increase in aggression by the bears indicate a big concern that we need to address.”
In similar news, Wenum said a mountain lion was spotted on the edge of town Monday morning. Utility workers in an elevated bucket saw a mountain lion near the edge of Three Ladies Park on the northwest side of town.
“It’s nothing to be alarmed about,” said Wenum. “There are a lot of wild animals in those willows that we never see. Remember, you live in a place with wild animals, [so] remember to take the proper precautions.”
Wenum says the wildlife vs. people situation is like going to school. “It takes a high level of consistency over a long period of time to re-educate the animals and to re-educate the people,” he said. “That’s where we are right now.”