Early morning risers discovered a bear roaming around looking for food on the property of Harvest at Damonte Ranch in South Reno, at Steamboat Parkway and Veterans Parkway. Officials say the property left trash scattered all around.
Ashley Zeme, head of communications for Nevada Department of Wildlife shared, "in this apartment complex specifically, they had bags of garbage left all over so the bear probably came right out of its natural habitat searching for food and came across all this garbage, so that's why it's important, no matter where you live, secure your garbage, and you can do that by getting a bear resistant trash container."
More and more bears are becoming less afraid of people while in search of food.
As a friendly reminder, officials advise to avoid walking, jogging, or letting your pets roam outside, off leash at sunrise and sunset, when bears tend to be most active.
Zeme mentions, "well, this time of year it is pretty normal, basically it gets cold and there's snow up there in those higher elevations, so their going to follow a ditch of green grass, into our lower elevations and that's what brings them into our neighborhoods."
Authorities say people should use bear-resistant garbage cans and containers if possible, and secure all food sources, including outdoor waste bins, pet food and fruit on or under trees should be removed or locked up.
Zeme suggest, "so if you see a bear on your property or anywhere in your neighborhood, we ask people to do what's called hazing and basically you try to make the bear feel as uncomfortable as possible, in your neighborhood so that it doesn't feel welcome there, so you could do this by yelling at, banging pots and pans, we just want to show them they're not welcome in our neighborhood."
While some of the bear footage and videos people collect may appear to be funny and cute, wildlife experts want to remind people bears are dangerous.
They say instead of confronting the bear yourself, you should contact Nevada Department of Wildlife immediately.
