Bears making their summer presence known

Bruin killed in CB South. “No one wants to see them destroyed…”

We have hit the midsummer mark in the valley and it is bear season—as in, it is the time of year when bears start frequenting populated areas in search of food. And that can be dangerous. In fact, a local homeowner shot and killed a bear in Crested Butte South last week. Chances are the resident won’t be the last to have an early-morning encounter with a hungry bruin.

In years past, bears have broken into homes, garages and cars to get at food. This summer’s hot and dry weather is expected to keep backcountry food pretty minimal and that means we can expect some bruins to try to search out the easy pickings, like Dumpster diving in the local alleys behind restaurants or figuring out how to get into residential trashcans.
While Mt. Crested Butte is relatively bear-free at the moment, the town of Crested Butte has attracted several bruins that are already regularly poking around Dumpsters, trashcans, garages and houses to look for food.
“We are back in the season,” confirmed Crested Butte Assistant Chief Marshal Ted Conner. “We, along with other local enforcement personnel, are meeting this week with the Division of Wildlife [DOW] to come up with a strategy to deal with the bears.”
According to Conner, there have been reports of a big bear, a medium-sized cinnamon bear and two smaller bears in town. “Mostly, we have been dealing with the large bear. He got into a garage and broke into the freezer where he took some meat,” Conner said. “Numerous Dumpsters and trashcans have been damaged by bears trying to get into them. One big Dumpster was turned over completely. That takes a lot of strength and shows how powerful these guys can be.”
“You might want to really reflect before thinking how nice it would be to get your picture taken [alongside] a bear. They can be dangerous.”
The bear incident in Crested Butte South occurred about 3:30 a.m. on July 5. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife area wildlife manager J Wenum, the incident is still under investigation. But it appears that a bear was making a lot of noise trying to get into a secured trashcan. The homeowner came outside with a headlamp and pistol to investigate. “When he came around a vehicle the headlamp startled the bear and the homeowner said the bear stood up on his hind legs and hissed at him. They were about 10 or 12 feet away from one another and both were probably pretty startled. He shot at the bear and hit him,” Wenum said. “The bear ran off about 50 or 60 yards and collapsed in a neighbor’s backyard.”
Wenum said charges likely wouldn’t be filed against the shooter. “People are allowed to defend themselves,” he said. “We see several of these types of incidents around the state every summer. It most likely happens when both a bear and a person startle each other in close proximity.”
In Mt. Crested Butte at this point, there hasn’t been a bear problem. “Not to brag, but we have great compliance up here with people’s trash and Dumpsters,” said Mt. Crested Butte police officer Brad Phelps. “We’ve had very little bear trouble. It is very hard for bears to find food in Mt. Crested Butte. And that’s the key to keeping bears out of the communities.
“Now as summer goes on, we will start to see more hungry bears coming through town,” Phelps continued. “If they find any food, they’ll be a problem. So the key is to remain vigilant. Compared to previous years, both towns have made good progress thwarting bears. Everyone has to be very careful when it comes to garbage and things like dog food.”
Conner agrees it all pretty much comes down to keeping food out of the paws of wandering, hungry bears. “Remember to keep your food inside and dispose of all edibles in a proper, wildlife-resistant trashcan,” he said. “Don’t put out your trash out until the morning of the collection and don’t leave your grills where bears can easily get them. The other big attraction is bird feeders and hummingbird feeders. The town code requires that feeders must be suspended so that they are inaccessible to bears.”
Wenum said the next six weeks would probably be busy with bears. “It’s been a goofy year with the high temperatures and low precipitation,” he said. “A lot of the natural timing is off. It seems we are three or four weeks ahead of schedule. And we are expecting poor backcountry food production so there will be a lot of hungry bears around. Given the conditions, we expect to see more of them around.
“We usually see the bear feeding frenzy in August when they try to fatten up for the winter,” Wenum continued. “But it could come earlier this year. So everyone needs to be aware. Be careful with storing food and putting out bird feeders. The more rewards bears find, the more likely they are to return to a place. Hopefully the incident in Crested Butte South can be a lesson for [other people]. There’s a lot more urbanization in the area but this is very much bear country.”
Law enforcement officials and the DOW have trapped several bears over the last few years. While the DOW has tried to relocate some of the bears, many of the trapped bruins have been euthanized.
“It is very sad when we have to do that,” admitted Conner. “They are beautiful animals and no one wants to see them destroyed. That’s why it is so important for people to do everything they can to make sure they don’t hang around town.”