Just as the shoulder season begins and the number of vacationers visiting the South Shore temporarily declines, Lake Tahoe's traditional residents start to emerge from hibernation.



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Nevada Department of Wildlife estimated approximately 200 to 300 bears are concentrated along Nevada's western edge, a border dotted by cities where food waste is increasingly attractive to bears.

"Urban areas are in a lot of ways better than the backcountry," said Carl Lackey, wildlife biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife. "Last year we had a lot of break-ins. They always break into the kitchen or go straight towards the kitchen. A lot of times they'll ignore people in the house."

Lackey has yet to hear of any bear break-ins in Nevada this season, but anticipated they could begin "any day now."

Break-ins from bears refusing to hibernate have continued through the winter in California, including repeated car and home intrusions in the Meyers area from a black bear weighing well over 500 pounds recently euthanized by California Department of Fish and Game, according to Jason Holley, wildlife biologist for the department.

If his weight estimates are accurate, the bear may be the largest ever recorded at the South Shore.

This discovery puts California directly in line with Lackey's Nevada findings.

The wildlife biologist, who works closely with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said he's seeing urban areas with bigger bears, in higher densities, reproducing in greater numbers than years' past.

Black bears tend to give birth to one or two cubs toward the beginning of February, but 2006 saw an increased number of triplets, and even some reports of quadruplets.

Lackey reasoned the increased number of cubs is due to females going into the winter months in extremely good shape after dining on carelessly disposed of food waste throughout the rest of the year. "Encouraging people to bear-proof their trash, that would solve the problem," he said.

Despite the high birth rates, Lackey estimates the local bear population to be stable, due in no small part to the dangers bears face when foraging in urban areas.

Mortality rates increase 1,500 percent for Nevada bears who grow accustomed to residential areas. Thirty-two black bears were killed last year, with car accidents being the biggest cause of death "by far," according to Lackey.

"It's rare for a family with three or four cubs to make it to maturity," said Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League, a Lake Tahoe-based nonprofit organization that advocates diversionary rather than lethal tactics in dealing with the basin's bear population.

Bryant echoed Lackey's emphasis on keeping trash properly secured to keep bears away from the perils of city life, but encouraged further steps.

Rather than cooing in amazement or gawking at a bear with camera in hand, she suggested people take it upon themselves to discourage bears from coming onto private property.

Clapping and yelling, or banging on a window while safely inside a residence should be enough to scare the generally docile black bear into the backcountry, according to Bryant.

"We are now the dominant species, and we have to act like it," said Bryant. "We can't do that if we're afraid."



-- By Adam Jensen, AJensen@TahoeDailyTribune.com



Welcome to town

Even among the Canada goose and two species of squirrels currently calling Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care home, the center's newest addition remains quite the peculiarity.

"This is the smallest and youngest cub we've ever had," said Tom Millham, secretary/treasurer of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

The approximately 6 pound, twelve-week old black bear was brought to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care over the weekend after his mother was illegally shot and killed near Kernville, outside of Bakersfield.

"We are the only rehabilitation facility in the state of California authorized to do bear cubs," said Millham.

A California Department of Fish and Game veterinarian in Rancho Cordova gave the cub a thorough physical on Tuesday, determining the young bear is healthy enough to be rehabilitated.

With a go ahead from fish and game, the cub is now back at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, where he'll spend most of the next year.

Millham said the goal is to release the bear back into the wild within 50 miles of where he was found near the start of next year. He estimated the cub will probably weigh between 80 and 120 pounds by that point.



-- Adam Jensen



Don't want to share your trash?

* Use a bear proof trash can.

* Put trash out on the morning of trash collection, rather than the night before.

* Don't store food in vehicles.

* Keep bird feeders inaccessible to bears.

* Store pet food indoors.

* Keep barbecues clean.

Source: BEAR League, Bear Aware, California Department of Fish and Game