A person was injured Thursday when a bear scratched them while they were napping in a Steamboat Springs backyard.
The person, an adult, was napping in a patio chair when they noticed the bear approaching, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife release. Not wanting to startle the bear, the person stayed motionless as the bear huffed and popped its jaw. The bear reached out and scraped the person’s knee. A neighbor then deployed bear spray to scare the bear away.
The person had minor injuries and didn’t seek professional medical treatment, the state wildlife agency said.
Bear encounters have spiked across the state this year as drought drives bears to more populated areas in search of food. Nearly 300 bears had been euthanized this year as of Aug. 31, more than triple those euthanized during the same period last year.
CPW did not say whether the bear in Thursday’s encounter had been euthanized.
