Southwest Reno Reports First Bear Sightings of 2023

Despite cold temperatures and winter weather conditions, Northern Nevada's black bears aren't hitting the snooze button on their long winter naps.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife says they're starting to get their first bear-related calls this year, with a cluster of tipped trash bins in the neighborhoods off Zolezzi Lane in southwest Reno.

“90% of the calls that we get from the public reporting bear activity are trash-related," said public information officer Ashley Sanchez.

She's expecting more calls as the season progresses.

Kassie Quackenbush, rehabilitation manager at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, says that the bears will become more determined in their search for food as the weather warms up and their metabolisms increase.

“They’re pretty sleepy when they wake up," she said. "Honestly, it’s like waking up from a really long nap. They’re kind of groggy. They’re slow. They are looking for food, but they’re not really aggressive. They are more just interested in finding something they can eat.”

Many of Tahoe and Northern Nevada's bears have turned to human trash as a food source.

“It can be seen as aggression when a bear maybe breaks into a house or maybe stands its ground when you try to scare it away, but to them, they’re learning that they can probably win this fight, and there’s good food here, and they want to eat it," Quackenbush said.

Sanchez says that's the reason it's important for homeowners to start securing their trash bins this time of year. Property owners with fruit trees should also consider putting up electric fencing.

And now is a great time to bring in your bird feeders when it gets dark out, or "even better, bring them down altogether and scatter the seeds on the ground," Sanchez said. "That will still get the job done of feeding the birds, but bears won’t take the time to pick up the seeds.”

Sanchez said that bears are opportunistic, so when homeowners are securing their yards, they should take into consideration anything that a bear might consider a food source.

Failing to properly secure your home and property can result in hundreds - or even thousands - of dollars worth of damage.

“Bears are extremely strong," Quackenbush said. "They can rip through a garage door. They can peel a car door off. The bears around here have learned how to open car doors.”

But beyond avoiding property damage, the bigger goal is to keep bears wild. It's a trait they can lose when they get too comfortable around humans. Quackenbush said that at the rehabilitation center, staff never interacts with the resident bears.

“One of the best things that we do is keeping bears with other bears, so they learn to be a bear," she said. "They find their companionship and their bear friends, and they don’t look to us for some kind of comfort or interest or entertainment.”

And residents can help - by keeping trash and food to themselves.

Residents in Washoe County, Douglas County, and Carson City can ask their waste management services for an animal-resistant trash bins: