THE BEARS OF BEAR VALLEY
    California's black bears have made a comeback in the last decade. Sightings and interactions with humans have become much more common. And while there is always an element of danger for humans, the real danger is usually to the bear when bears and humans interact. As the saying goes, "A fed bear is a dead bear". We have learned just in the last few years that human behaviors formerly considered acceptable, like leaving food out for bears or allowing bears to rummage in the landfill, often have the opposite of the desired effect. Instead of making the bears' lives easier, they often result in the death of the bear.
    When bears learn that they can get food by hanging around people they lose their reluctance to interact with humans, and this is bad for bears and people both. For one thing, once a bear gets an easy meal from a garbage can or a back porch, it will come back for more, and it won't take "No" for an answer. Bears are clever and VERY strong. Prying open a locked freezer is as easy for them as opening a box of Cracker Jacks is for you. The trunk or back seat of a locked car is no problem for a bear. The bear is so fixated on food sources that it will forever associate food with any place or object (car, house, garbage can, or person) where it ever got food, even once. That bear's wild life is ruined with just one free lunch from humans, and there's a good chance it will have to be captured and killed as it hangs around people's habitations.
    The danger to humans is mostly by way of property damage, but there's always the potential for injury if a human gets between a mother bear and her cub, or gets between a bear and its escape route.
    A curious effect of bears' interaction with humans is that a bear that forages in garbage cans or is otherwise fed by people may have more offspring. The mother bear's fat content partly determines the size of her litter, and a bear that lives on pizza and dog food will probably have more cubs than one that lives on nuts and berries. More mouths to feed...
    Until a few years ago, bears that hung around people and scared them were captured and relocated to the hinterlands of California. But there are no hinterlands left any more. People have filled every corner of this beautiful state, and relocation of problem bears is no longer an option. So any bear that is captured will have to be killed.
    So, you're saying, what can I do to help protect these beautiful creatures for whom our town is named? Glad you asked:

• Bears make their living mostly by smell. Don't leave smelly things out where bears can home in on them. Don't leave dog food on the porch. Keep a clean outdoor barbecue. Don't leave anything with a strong smell out: laundry soap, perfume, any food, wipe-down rags.
• That goes for cars too. Don't leave food or other smelly attractants in your car when in Bear Valley.
• The biggest problem: GARBAGE. Mismanagement of garbage results in many unfortunate and unnecessary bear deaths every year, not to mention property damage. Never leave garbage outside, or even in a vulnerable area like a screened porch. Keep your garbage inside your house or condo until you're ready to take it to the appropriate dumpster.
• And when you get to the dumpster, make sure to put the garbage inside. Latch the lid and secure things as appropriate for your particular dumpster. NEVER leave garbage (or recyclables) outside the bear-proof receptacle. This is a SERIOUS mistake. If the dumpster is full, take your garbage home. If you leave garbage outside the receptacle, you not only condemn the bear to a likely execution eventually, you also endanger any humans who come to the dumpster while the bear is feeding on your garbage. (See the article on the Current Issues page on Dumpster Etiquette)
• If you have a serious bear problem, call the Sheriff (911 if it's an emergency). After securing your life and property, the Sheriff will investigate whether you did anything to attract the bear.
• If you encounter a bear and you cannot gracefully retreat, or if the bear is wrecking your car/house/campsite, try to make a lot of noise; bang pots together, blow a whistle, yell. Stand up and try to look as big as you can but don't make any move the bear might consider threatening. And never get between a mother bear and her cub. If you see a cub by itself, get away; there's probably a mother around.
• It takes a lot of will power, but if you really care about the bears' welfare, you need to resist the all-too-human urge to interact with the bear. It's natural to want to talk to the bear, get close to it, make eye contact, feed it. It goes against the grain to think that the best thing you can do for that bear is to LEAVE IT ALONE, but that's the way it is. If you're lucky enough to see a bear, admire it from a distance and count yourself privileged to see one of these beautiful fellow earthlings. Thanks for caring!                   Eric Jung      June 2000
  For more information on California black bears, go to http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/bear/biology.html 

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