Colorado Parks and Wildlife is encouraging people to remove attractants from their yards as bears prepare for hibernation, requiring a bear to spend up to 20 hours a day hunting for food as a “four-legged walking stomach.”
Parks and Wildlife has received 3,644 bear reports from April 1 through Aug. 31, down slightly from the same time frame last year. But bear sightings are expected to increase as they look to bulk up before hibernating. Most of the reports involve bears trying to access human food sources, according to Parks and Wildlife.
In Area 2, which includes Boulder County, Broomfield, Loveland and part of southwestern Weld County, “human-bear interactions have been very high this year,” said the agency’s Wildlife Manager Jason Duetsch.
Since January, the agency has received 396 bear reports from Area 2, making it the state’s third highest area for bear reports.
Duetsch said trash, bird seed, beehives, livestock, tents, homes, cabins and garages all have been targets, while there were two “minor” bear attacks in Estes Park in the summer at campgrounds with dog food as the main attractant. Residents are encouraged to call Parks and Wildlife when bears become a nuisance.
During Labor Day weekend, both a bear and a mountain lion were sighted in Longmont. The bear was reported near Fifth Avenue and Collyer Street.
Last summer, two bears were put down in Boulder County, one on the University of Colorado Boulder campus and one in Fourmile Canyon. At the time, wildlife officials urged residents to take measures to discourage bears from coming around, including hazing and using bear-resistant trash cans.
While no bears have had to be put down in the city so far this year, Boulder Senior Urban Wildlife Conservation Coordinator Valerie Matheson said, fall is when they tend to be most active, leading to more human and bear conflicts.
“This is really when the season heats up as bears are trying to load up on calories,” she said.
She pointed to two city rules created to help reduce conflicts. In 2014, Boulder City Council passed an ordinance requiring residents west of Broadway and south of Sumac Avenue have bear-resistant trash cans. A 2017 rule requires all Boulder residents to use bear resistant cans if they put their trash out the night before pick up.
Matheson said trash left unsecured overnight likely accounts for increased bear activity in certain areas of the city, including north of Alpine Avenue between Broadway and Folsom.
“It creates this little trash alley,” she said.
While there’s not a rule requiring residents to secure hobby livestock and beehives, she said, it’s recommended because chickens and goats within the city also have been bear attractants.
Along with using bear proof trash cans, other precautions securing trash cans and dumpsters, removing bird feeders, closing garages, cleaning garbage cans regularly and locking car and house doors.
People also are encouraged not to allow bears to become comfortable around their homes by yelling, throwing things and making noise to scare them off.
For more tips, go to the Living with Wildlife section at cpw.state.co.us.
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