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A roughly 300-pound black bear was euthanized behind a Delwood Avenue home Sept. 5, moaning in a hole it had dug, too bloated to walk (Herald, Sept. 11). Colorado Parks and Wildlife found its stomach and upper intestine packed with plastic garbage bags and at least 10 non-flushable wipes. The bear was about 18, unseen by CPW since a 2012 study until hunger pushed it into homes a block away last month.
Around 2 a.m. Sept. 13, a bear peeled the screen off a bedroom window on Escalante Drive, tore down the curtain and climbed in on a sleeping 17-year-old. It sniffed her head through the blankets, then swiped her stomach. She screamed. It left, came back, left again. The next day, a bear entered another home nearby.
And about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 17, a Durango man shot at a bear tearing a screen to get in through open windows. He found blood the next morning; CPW could not track it. That bear is still out there.
Colorado has confirmed 10 bear attacks on people this year, a record, and CPW has euthanized nearly 300 bears statewide against 98 in all of 2025. We are in hyperphagia, when a bear needs 20,000 calories a day before denning, in a second year of drought and freeze that erased low-elevation forage.
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...careless people create bear problems!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like there is quite a problem - for both bears and humans.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty alarming. We have bears hereabouts, but I have never seen one. Occasionally they seem to get lost and appear in an urban area, but I haven’t heard of that happening ing for some time now. ``
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of the bears, particularly that one in the tree!
ReplyDeleteWe have bears around here but only rarely see evidence of them i.e., scat piles, bird feeder disappearing, and compost bin pushed over. If they come by it's after dark.
ReplyDeleteWe humans certainly can create problems with our encroachment into a species' territory. Florida has its own problems with bears although nothing as serious as what you describe. But here, of course, they deal with the situation by allowing bear hunts.
ReplyDeleteOoh boy.
I don't know what the answer to things like this are. We humans certainly aren't going to give up what we consider to be OURS. So what are the bears supposed to do? And it all ends up in possible tragedy for both.
This is so sad. I can't imagine waking up to a bear In my bedroom.
ReplyDeletePoor poor bears. Not that I would want one in my bedroom, in fact I am pretty content to see them from afar. But really what are they supposed to do? Humans are in theory able to reason their way out of problems they create, and how is that going.
ReplyDeleteCeci
I don't think I'd want to live in an area where bears tear the screens off your windows and climb in the house.
ReplyDeleteLordy there does seem to be a lot of bears!!! Not really my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteI see some of my blog list is updating! Hopefully everyone will be updated soon!
Sorry not to answer each comment today. I've been concerned about how black bears have been getting acclimated to feeding on people's garbage for quite a while. It results in healthier moms having more cubs. And then they all learn those plastic boxes contain a lot of protein. Here in Durango is no different than the problem in Black Mountain. I'm glad this editorial article was published, and it included some urging for municipal and commercial help addressing the situation.
ReplyDeleteA sad situation for the bears. And scary for people.
ReplyDeleteI would not like to run into a bear and it sounds like there are a lot of them. It is a sad situation for the bears, as their environment is shrinking.
ReplyDeleteThat is sad. We invade their territory and displace them.
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