Bear encounters prompt reminders to secure food and trash

Hungry bears have been flocking into Gunnison and Crested Butte this summer in unprecedented numbers. In recent weeks, residents have reported bear sightings and trash can invasions in residential streets and alleys daily. According to John Livingston, the local public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), American black bears throughout Southwest Colorado are facing drastic food shortages as a result of this year’s historic drought. In response, bears are seeking out human-provided food sources such as trash residue, bird feeders, and even home break-ins to provide the calories that they need ahead of the denning season.

CPW is receiving a historic number of calls daily for advice about human-bear conflict. Reports include nuisance bears, vehicle break-ins, and trash container spills; the list goes on. The North Fork and Crested Butte are also hubs for more bears than usual. The current number of calls for August alone is what the CPW would normally receive in a whole year.

Livingston points out that bears prepare for winter in the fall and their bodies are in a state of hyperphagia. This is a biological state of extreme, unstoppable hunger that bears enter into every autumn before hibernation. Bears typically spend up to 22 hours a day eating during this time and can gain up to 4 pounds daily. The bear's brain temporarily suppresses leptin and chemical signals that normally trigger satiety. This allows them to consume over 20,000 calories a day without feeling stuffed, allowing them to accumulate vital fat reserves.

This year, drought and wildfires have created a situation where there is radical food failure in the wild. There has been little natural food for them to source. Typically, they would feed on berries, chokecherries, acorns, oak brush, crabapples, and raspberries. Bears flock to areas where these grow but can face territorial dominance. Due to drought and a late freeze in May, many local orchards with trees leafing out and developing buds didn’t produce fruit, and food crops also suffered. Widespread fires have further destroyed food sources and displaced bears.

Consequently, human-provided alternatives are proving to be a lure, creating a situation where hungry bears are seeking out the seeds in bird feeders and the sugar in hummingbird syrup dispensers. Equally, bears have been targeting trash, beehives, chicken feed, live chickens, goats, and hobby agriculture due to the extreme shortage of foodstuffs they would normally consume. Bears can smell food for up to 2 miles away.

CPW is asking the public to act responsibly and take measures to protect themselves and the bears from being euthanized. “Let’s all work together on this,” Livingston says. “It’s a community-wide collaboration.”

Bears are very smart and wily with long memories. They can open doors and dumpsters, and they can remember a treat or food source for up to two years. Likewise, they will also remember a hostile incident for the same length of time. “If we residents do not respond with awareness, we will face generational problems. Learned behaviors and dependence on humans instead of natural habitat will be an issue in future years.”

To recap some of the most obvious responses to avoid problems:

• Lock your cars and home.
• Never leave food outside or in vehicles.
• Secure your trash in a garage or locked shed until trash collection times.
• Consider getting bear locking trash cans and dumpsters.
• Do not leave out pet food or dog bones.
• Take down bird feeders.
• Install electric fences for chicken coops.

A marvelous resource for homeowners and businesses is Bearwise.org, which has detailed advice for living with bears in every situation. Livingston says he would like to credit Crested Butte and Mount Crested Butte with implementing bear-resistant trash cans to reduce conflicts. A local Gunnison resident, Will Shoemaker, states that he and his wife have witnessed random conflicts with bears for a decade, mainly centering on the plastic-lid dumpsters in their alley between North 9th and 10th Streets. “Since early July, bears have been climbing into or knocking dumpsters over and spreading trash. In my observation, the primary culprit is the city-owned trash receptacles with plastic lids,” he said. “These are significant attractants and create safety concerns for humans, pets and the bears themselves.”

Once these five dumpsters were replaced by the city, on request, with heavier ones with metal lids, the bears responded quickly, and no further trash has been spread in the area. As a wildlife advocate and a volunteer Vice President of the Gunnison Wildlife Association, Shoemaker said, “I hate to see a bear euthanized because of stupid decisions and negligence by humans. I hope we as a community can improve our ways. Living alongside wildlife such as bears is what makes Gunnison so unique.”

Highlighting just how bad this year is for wildlife; Livingston points out that mature bears are coming into town that have never done so before. An unprecedented number of female bears with cubs are struggling to find food. More bear activity has been observed in the daytime than usual. Typically, they spend the hottest hours of the day in the trees for shade and to avoid human contact, and it is at night that they become active at lower elevations. This year there have even been cases of female bears abandoning their cubs for lack of food. There is also an increase in bear roadkill as they are crossing more highways to reach food sources.

Livingston reports that orphan bears at the Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility, operated by CPW in the San Luis Valley, which serves as an off-limits rehabilitation center for orphaned cubs, weigh only 10 to 15 pounds this season. In contrast, they would normally weigh 30 to 45 pounds at this stage.

“We haven’t seen these statewide drought impacts and extreme food failures since 2001, 2002 in Southwest Colorado, so these are the highest levels in 25 years. Local bears may appear blonde, cinnamon, or brown as they evolved over thousands of years, but they are essentially black bears.

Many of the calls coming in are requesting that the bears be relocated, “but relocation is not the answer,” he says. “The bears often return within a week.” The bears are hungry to the point of starving, and in areas where there is still access to food in nature, there are other bears who are territorial and fights break out. “While it is a tool, it is not always a perfect solution.”

Gunnison City Manager Amanda Wilson told the Gunnison Country Times, "The City of Gunnison continues to partner with Colorado Parks and Wildlife on the challenges with bears in town. Many bear-proof containers have been distributed throughout the western side of the community where the bear population continues to be the most concentrated. When appropriate, the City and/or CPW conduct hazing measures to discourage bears from returning to an area. We continue to rely heavily on each customer doing their part to secure containers and to follow long-established rules related to pick up times." 

CPW advises on prevention, but on encountering a bear, suggests:

• Try to haze it away.
• It’s okay to use a car alarm
• Airhorn whistles can be effective
• Bang pots and pans to frighten it

While it is important to call CPW office right away, the first time a bear is spotted on the premises and there is a chance to intervene in human/bear conflict, at 970 641 7060 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., after that time the office will be closed, so he advises that you call 911 for emergency dispatch.