Montrose - Daily Press

Special to the Daily Press

RIDGWAY —Loghill Village is experiencing increased bear activity earlier than usual. At least two bears have been making their homes within the subdivision since mid-May.

Residents have reported seeing two young bears, one with white ear tags. The ear tags indicate that this bear was sent to a rehabilitator as a cub and released back in the wild.

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“The bears are making Loghill Village their home because they continue to find houses that have left a food source outside, particularly bird seed,” said Kelly Crane, District Wildlife Manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “Almost all of the property owners I have talked to have told me that the bear got some sort of food at their residence. Until property owners remove these attractants the bears will most likely hang around.”

Late summer and fall are typically times that human/bear conflicts increase. This year, however, due to the extremely dry conditions bears are searching harder for food.

“Combine the drought conditions with the freeze that occurred near Memorial Day and this could turn out to be a very hard year for bears,” Crane said.

The freeze killed off a portion of the berry and acorn crops which bears rely on in the late summer and fall. When a food source is missing, bears will travel long distances looking for food. This is when they end up being attracted to areas like Loghill Village by the smell of household garbage, pet food, barbeque grills and bird feeders.

“This is not a bear problem it’s a people problem. The bears are just doing what comes natural to them, which is searching for food. Loghill Village is in bear habitat and residents need to take steps to coexist with the bear and not turn them into garbage bears,” Crane said.

In the fall of 2001, the Colorado Wildlife Commission passed an emergency regulation making it illegal for any person to fail to take remedial action to avoid contact or conflict with bears. This regulation is primarily aimed at those individuals who have been advised by the Division of Wildlife to secure or remove attractants from their property and fail to do so. Violators face a $50 fine.

“As the numbers of people living in bear habitat increases so will these bear-human conflicts,” Crane said. “We urge property owners to take steps to prevent these conflicts.”

If you want to talk about how to keep bears away from your home, call Crane at (970)240-9575.

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