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In the NewsLiving With Bears
date posted: July 8 2002
By Ann Bryant, Executive Director, BEAR League
Bears are probably the most unforgettable wildlife encounter residents and visitors are likely to have in the Tahoe area. Bears are large and often misunderstood. Unfortunately, bears are paying for our lack of understanding and our mistakes with their lives. It is up to us to live in bear country respectfully and responsibly.
It is important to have correct information on the proper way for humans to live and vacation in bear country, without negatively impacting the bears:
All wild bears inhabiting California and Nevada are black bears, no matter what color. The last grizzly bear was killed in the 1920s. Our bears do not eat people, are basically shy, and prefer to avoid confrontation. However, they are opportunistic and will look for an easy meal of garbage, pet food, pie on a windowsill, etc.
The most important rule of all is NEVER FEED THE BEARS! Once a bear finds food on your property, it will never forget and will return many times hoping for a repeat performance. Such bears often must be destroyed (a fed bear is a dead bear). Bears follow their noses and are thinking of food whenever they aren’t asleep. Be sure to never intentionally feed bears and make it a habit to keep anything edible (such as garbage, pet food, compost piles, etc.) completely inaccessible all the time. It is now illegal to put garbage out before the morning of trash collection in anything other than a metal bear-proof garbage enclosure.
Black bears naturally fear people. However, some of our bears have forgotten this because we have been too nice to them. If bears come into your yard, you should yell, throw things at them, bang pots and pans, and generally make them feel unwelcome. A bear will not waste time or effort where it isn’t getting fed and especially where it is being picked on. This is called “aversive conditioning” and it works to keep our bears safe!
The BEAR League is available to help you with bear related questions or concerns, (530) 525-PAWS (7297).
More News: Lake Tahoe is Losing Water Clarity, Lake Tahoe waters have been losing transparency at an average . . . read this news. EPA Region 9 Presents 2001 Environmental Award to LTEEC Subgroup, The LTEEC Partners in Conservation Working Group was recently awarded . . . read this news. Fifteen Things You Can Do To Make a Difference in Your Watershed, Learn about your watershed. Use EPA's Nonpoint Source Program web pages . . . read this news. Grant Awarded to Tahoe Basin, Adopt-A-Watershed (AAW), Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP) and the Lake . . . read this news. Tahoe Area Job Announcements, There are several Tahoe area jobs in the environmental field . . . read this news. K-12 Regional Coordinator Named, Jill Sarick was recently named Adopt-a-Watershed Regional Coordinator for the . . . read this news. Yuck - Algae in Lake Tahoe, There are two major types of algae found in Lake . . . read this news. Living With Bears, By Ann Bryant, Executive Director, BEAR League Bears are probably the . . . read this news. What You Can Do To Protect Water Quality, Hike only on existing trails. Use fertilizers and lawn chemicals sparingly. Water . . . read this news. LTEEC Names 2002 National Flagship Honoree, Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition from Nevada and California, was . . . read this news. |
