Page 13 - Sentinel October 2017

BEAR WISE Continued from page 12 there. Then give as much room as possible for the mom bear
allow it, bird seed, pet food and people food. The last three food and her young ones to move on without incident. As for bear
groups can be detrimental to our health and your safety, so please spray, use this tool only as a close encounter defensive measure.
take extra care by keeping these items locked safely away from Never use bear spray as a means to clear the bear from the area
our wandering noses. Also, a reminder that intentionally feed- as the hikers in this story apparently did.
ing us is strictly against the law. If you witness this act, please
report it to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Services and your If you believe a bear is exhibiting aggressive behavior and has
local law enforcement agency. Part of responsible citizenship lost its fear of humans, please call the Department of Wildlife
is being the eyes and ears for law enforcement so that we bears and give a report. They will assess the situation and act accord-
have a fighting chance to co-exist with you peacefully. ingly. If you feel your life is in danger, call 911.

Colorado Bear Family in the News. The on-going challenge for bear and humans alike is to find a
Recently the fate of a mama black bear and her two cubs ended way to peacefully co-exist without harming each other.
tragically as reported recently on the Channel Seven website.
It seems two hikers on the Enchanted Forest Trail near Golden Making a commitment to be “bear wise” is a good first step in
encountered the mom and her two cubs on the trail. In an ef- the right direction.
fort to encourage the young bear family to yield so the hikers
could continue on, they yelled, blew whistles, ran behind a tree Until next time, you have a friend in the sometimes unpredict-
and even used bear spray to no avail. When the bears charged able bear behavior business.
toward them, the hikers retreated unharmed and reported the Beary
incident as “aggressive bear behavior” to the Colorado Parks
and Wildlife Service.

Remember, when a bear is reported as displaying aggressive
behavior, the Parks and Wildlife Department has no choice but
to assume the bear is a danger to public safety and kill them.
Rarely are exceptions made to this rule. In this case, the rangers
located the bear and her cubs a few days later and put all three
down as a public safety precaution.

Unfortunately, the mother bear was not able to tell her side of the
story. Public safety demands that second chances not be granted
once a bear crosses the line regardless of the circumstances. Yet
I’m wondering if, when the two hikers discovered the bear and
her cubs on the trail, they had yielded first by backing slowly
(not running) away, rather than insisting the bear leave the area
that the story might have had a happier ending. From the bears’
perspective, all this commotion, noise and bear spray was most
likely perceived as a threat to her and her young ones. When
feeling threatened this mom did what moms instinctively do
– protect their young from harm – perceived or real. Normal
healthy bear behavior is for us to run away rather than fight,
but when cubs are present the rules sometimes change. If you
encounter this situation, make noise to let the bear know you are

Once more a Larkspur resident wins the Douglas Land Con-
servancy’s Wednesday Wildlife photo contest. Winners are
chosen by viewers of the entrants on Facebook. Rebecca
Troncalli submitted the porcupine for the September 8 com-
petition.

Perry Park Sentinel October 2017 - Page 13