The child did what comes naturally when an unwanted stranger appears in a bedroom.
“Get outta my room!” he yelled at the burly intruder the morning of July 16 in Larkspur.
The culprit had broken the screen on the bedroom window and stuck his head and “hands” through.
The unwanted visitor retreated at the sound of the startled boy’s voice. It was then that the child’s parents found the suspects — two medium-sized bears.
A day earlier, a homeowner in Estes Park reported that a small brown bear broke into the house through an open window, ate banana nut bread and a mango and then went for the garbage, according to a Colorado Division of Wildlife report.
At the same time, a bear met an untimely demise after it broke into a home in Hartsel despite the presence of the homeowner and a big dog. The juvenile male bear was destroyed by the DOW.
Searching for sustenance
These are not isolated incidents, especially when natural food sources are scarce. The problem was particularly acute in 2007, when grasses, wildflowers, berries and acorns — favorite bear food — were scarce.
That year, according to DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill, 63 bears were destroyed after encounters with humans.
This year, only the southeast region of the state has seen diminished natural food sources.
Michael Seraphin, DOW spokesman for the region, said the situation is serious because of the lack of precipitation.
“In the beginning of the year, the bears eat grass. The grass didn’t grow much.,” he said. “All the other types of plants, such as wildflowers, they didn’t green up.”
As a result, Buena Vista, Salida, Canon City, Cripple Creek, Walsenberg, Trinidad, Woodland Park and Colorado Springs have seen more bears hunting for food.
“We have killed bears,” said Seraphin, who said he didn’t have exact figures. “We are above where we were last year in terms of bears who had to be moved or destroyed.”
Seraphin said that bears would just as soon stay away from people. But when a food source is gone, the animals travel to other areas and that brings them into contact with humans.
“Each bear has a certain personality and a certain method of finding food,” Seraphin said. “Some tend to be more bold than others, but some are quite shy and won’t go into human habitation.”
DOW spokesman Randy Hampton said bears typically are attracted to homes where food — usually a bird feeder — is within reach.
Colorado has 8,000 to 12,000 black bears, according to DOW.
Lion incidents called flukes
Mountain lion encounters also have received lots of headlines in recent weeks.
Division of Wildlife officials see the encounters as flukes.
“We have gone years without mountain lion incidents,” Hampton said. “Nothing (unusual) is going on. There is no indication they are being more aggressive.”
He said only a handful of mountain lions attack humans annually, but there are thousands of attacks by dogs.
Last week, a couple was walking on Main Elk Road north of Newcastle when a mountain lion approached them, crouched and appeared ready to attack.
“They yelled and did everything they knew how to do” to scare the animal, said DOW’s Hampton. “The man had a side arm and when the lion got within 6 feet, he shot and killed the lion. The lion was being aggressive. The guy acted properly.”
The lion was ill with pneumonia and bronchitis and hadn’t eaten in several days, officials said.
DOW’s Joe Lewandowski said there are between 4,000 and 7,000 mountain lions in Colorado.
Officials say that the state’s mountain lion population is “low” and that the encounters may be occurring as housing developments are built in lion habitat and more people are moving to Colorado.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
