California black bears are smart, resourceful and opportunistic. They eat everything, including fruits, nuts, insects, human food, pet food. They love bird feeders. They kill mountain lions, such as deer, they find. It is called creptoparasatism. They can use the bottom teeth to open unlocked car doors. If they find a way to your home or kitchen, they can open a jar of peanut butter and jam, and of course honey.
They are the only bear species in the state, and despite their names, their fur ranges from blonde to black. A century has passed since the Grizzly Bear was forced to extinct in California, and ironically, it has left its image alone on the state’s flag.
Estimating the number of black bears is a difficult exercise. The draft conservation plan for the truncated bears uses the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates – a new methodology, which states that the population is around 65,000, has been stable for 10 years. (For many years, the department estimated the population at 35,000 using less progressive statistical modeling.) Wendy Keefeover, a wildlife strategist in the group humanitarian world for animals — previously the American Humane Society — claims it is simply a speculation, and she emphasizes it too much as bears breed slowly and slowly.
No matter what happens with bear populations, we certainly know that reports of bear human interactions have come up. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, reports have been rising for decades – more people are living and spending holidays in bear territory, not more bears. There were an average of 674 reports between 2017 and 2020, but in 2021 and 2022 the number reached 1,678 per year. The Lake Tahoe Basin and the hilly areas of San Gabriel Mountain were specific hot spots.
California Rep. Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas) introduced Congressional Bill 1038, which includes one of those hotspots in the district but allows hunters to attack bears by chasing dogs, but cannot kill hunters. Bear hounds by hunters during bear hunting season were banned by Congress in 2012 and should not return even if the hunter refuses to kill the bear.
It remains cruel for a bear who is exhausted and clinging to a tree, like in 2012. Dogs and bears may fight. And it is unknown that chasing random bears in the forest probably discourages it from foraging food around humans. (The Fish and Wildlife Department has already allowed problematic bears to be haded by dogs, especially in the vicinity of communities and livestock, in limited circumstances.)
Another part of the Howdwick bill allows the Fish and Games Committee to decide whether hunters can use the hounds again to hunt and kill bears. Congress has already banned this practice, and it is pointless to give up power over the ban on appointed committees.
The proposal for this bill is useless, but human encounters with bears are dangerous and need to be kept to a minimum. There is a better way to do that. Department and animal welfare advocates are urging Californians to find ways to build homes, cars, campsites and farms that are unattractive to bears. There are many suggestions. Bears love stinky foods. Do not leave food outside. Use a garbage can with a bear’s gut latch. Take all the food out of the car and lock the car door. Place mats in the entrance that cause mild electric shocks when the bear step into them. They are called “unwelcome mats.” The crawl space under the deck must be fixed. Remove the bird feeder from your garden.
Livestock should be kept in safe pens at night. Electric fencing can be installed around chicken coops or enclosures. And bears that continue to sniff around their homes and livestock have a slight way to avoid getting the dog they are chasing. Motion activation lights, noise makers, alarms can scare bears.
And don’t feed them. In fact, it is prohibited in California. But Ambriant, executive director and founder of the Tahoe Basin Basin’s Basin Basin, says that when you do that anyway, some vacationers leave food outside wherever they are, hoping to lure the bears and take photos. It works – and the bears come back in anticipation of more food. At that time, Bryant, who helps the organization’s volunteers live in a more harmonious way with the bear, receives a call from someone who wants to know how to stop the bear.
Bryant’s advice is simple and simple. Stop serving food. When the bear appears again, “You step in and ‘Get out of here!” You are robbing him of his confidence that people will be kind and feed them. You have to let the bear know that the party is over. ”
So, in all these ways, why do bears keep coming? “These methods work,” says Peter Tira, a spokesman for fish and wildlife. They need to be adopted more widely: “The key is to develop continued education and awareness, good habits, reaching both the residents and visitors to the Bear Land.”
It depends on the department to send a more proactive message. But there are some advice tourists should remember, says Bryant: “I’m ‘I’m in the land of bears’, always think deep inside your heart. ”
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