Bears are part of life in Western Nevada, especially in the Lake Tahoe Basin. But they are not normally seen in February. But wildlife officials say bears could be emerging from hibernation, any day now.
"It's a little early and it's not like we ring a bell and the bears wake up and they come out and play," Chris Healy, Spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife said. "It's their decision."
Young, male bears are usually the first to come out of hibernation, while females tend to stay in the den for another month with their cubs. Daylight patterns are the biggest factor in hibernation schedules, but temperature and snowpack also play a role.
"There's not a heavy snowpack and we know it," Healy said. "So, in years like this, oftentimes bears emerge in late February or early March and the bears that emerge are the ones that get into some trouble."
The bears that get into trouble are the ones that look for garbage and other human sources of food. It's up to people to keep them away from homes, including the use of bear-proof garbage cans.
"Don't have food in your car," Healy said. "Don't have food in your garage. Don't leave your garage door open because all of those present that opportunity for a bear."
A fourth straight dry winter also means there will be less natural bear food, like nuts and berries, increasing the likelihood of bears looking through people's garbage.
"The bears aren't lazy, but like any other animal, they're going to take the path of least resistance to find sources of food," Healy said.
Unfortunately, if the mother bear starts searching for garbage food, her cubs often pick up her bad habits. While problems with bears typically happen around the end of summer, that might not be the case this year.
"Bears are going to be a part of your life and in an open winter like this, it's any moment now that you can start having conflict bears," Healy said.
How to react to a bear if you come across one depends on the situation.
"If it's just wandering, that's fine," Healy said. "If the bear is trying to break into your house, that's a whole different thing."
Healy says securing the crawl space of your house is important to keep bears away. When bears make their den underneath people's homes, it can cause a lot of property damage. Just three weeks ago, NDOW had to remove a bears from underneath a house.
Persons needing to report nuisance bear activity can call the NDOW's Bear Hotline telephone number at (775) 688-BEAR (2327). For information on living with bears persons can go to www.ndow.org and find the ”Bear Logic” page on the web.
