Well it’s that time of year again -- Ursus americanus are shakin’ off the winter, wiping the sleep from their eyes and trying to quench severe cases of the munchies. No problems there…black bears have been doin’ this drill for thousands of years. But lately here in the 775, Yogi and his pals have been scarin’ the bejeezus out of people by raiding their garbage cans.The number of urban bears raiding trash cans and breaking into homes has increased steadily in the past decade, particularly at Lake Tahoe, said Carl Lackey, an NDOW biologist and bear expert.
We couldn’t disagree more. Winnie the Pooh and his friends aren’t B&E’ing because they want to…they do it ‘cause they HAVE to. In the last decade the bear population in the Sierra has dropped dramatically while the people population in the area has boomed. In that same timeframe, the County Commissions and the City Councils have rubber-stamped so much development we’re running out of places to put new strip malls. No, bear encounters at Tahoe aren’t the fault of Ursus americanus…the fault lies with us. After all, they were here first.
(8.-)
