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ASPEN — Black bears are lumbering out of their winter slumber and right back into the same trouble they found last year.
In the early morning hours Thursday, an unknown driver struck and killed a bear in Snowmass Canyon, according to officials with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
And on Wednesday, a bear broke through a glass door in a Mountain Valley home, east of Aspen.
“It’s time for people to start getting very vigilant because the bears are coming out,” said Kevin Wright, wildlife manager for the Aspen district of the DOW.
DOW officials got the call from department of transportation officials about the roadkill bear in Snowmass Canyon at 4:30 a.m. Thursday and retrieved the body of a 4-year-old male that John Groves, district wildlife manager, estimated weighed about 200 pounds.
“They’re starting to come out of hibernation, and there’s not much forage for them out there,” Groves said.
The incident was at mile marker 30 in the canyon, and Groves believes the bear was coming from a foraging run at the Pitkin County landfill.
It’s too early to predict another rough year for area bears, Groves said, but thick snows covering spring forage could mean lots of hungry bears until early summer at least.
For the time being, bears are stuck with whatever grasses are sprouting in open areas, as well as bugs and, unfortunately, garbage and food from humans.
Groves said DOW staff set a trap near the Mountain Valley home where a bear broke in at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“The door was locked, and [the bear] just kept working it until it popped,” Groves said.
People were in the home and scared the bear out the same way the animal entered, Groves said.
The DOW has a two-strike policy, but aggressive bears that smash their way into homes are euthanized, Groves said.
“It’s already breaking into a house,” Groves said. “It’s probably been habituated from last year and is just picking up where it left off.”
If DOW officials catch the bear, Groves has not yet determined whether it would be killed.
“Aspen needs to wake up really fast right now because bears are out and about,” Wright said.
A recent walk on the east side of Aspen was disconcerting, according to Wright.
“Everything was wide open,” Wright said, and even proper bear-proof containers were simply left unlatched.
“There’s no reason for [people in] Aspen to be behaving the way they are,” Wright said. “People really need to start buckling things down immediately.”
cagar@aspentimes.com
In the early morning hours Thursday, an unknown driver struck and killed a bear in Snowmass Canyon, according to officials with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
And on Wednesday, a bear broke through a glass door in a Mountain Valley home, east of Aspen.
“It’s time for people to start getting very vigilant because the bears are coming out,” said Kevin Wright, wildlife manager for the Aspen district of the DOW.
DOW officials got the call from department of transportation officials about the roadkill bear in Snowmass Canyon at 4:30 a.m. Thursday and retrieved the body of a 4-year-old male that John Groves, district wildlife manager, estimated weighed about 200 pounds.
“They’re starting to come out of hibernation, and there’s not much forage for them out there,” Groves said.
The incident was at mile marker 30 in the canyon, and Groves believes the bear was coming from a foraging run at the Pitkin County landfill.
It’s too early to predict another rough year for area bears, Groves said, but thick snows covering spring forage could mean lots of hungry bears until early summer at least.
For the time being, bears are stuck with whatever grasses are sprouting in open areas, as well as bugs and, unfortunately, garbage and food from humans.
Groves said DOW staff set a trap near the Mountain Valley home where a bear broke in at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“The door was locked, and [the bear] just kept working it until it popped,” Groves said.
People were in the home and scared the bear out the same way the animal entered, Groves said.
The DOW has a two-strike policy, but aggressive bears that smash their way into homes are euthanized, Groves said.
“It’s already breaking into a house,” Groves said. “It’s probably been habituated from last year and is just picking up where it left off.”
If DOW officials catch the bear, Groves has not yet determined whether it would be killed.
“Aspen needs to wake up really fast right now because bears are out and about,” Wright said.
A recent walk on the east side of Aspen was disconcerting, according to Wright.
“Everything was wide open,” Wright said, and even proper bear-proof containers were simply left unlatched.
“There’s no reason for [people in] Aspen to be behaving the way they are,” Wright said. “People really need to start buckling things down immediately.”
cagar@aspentimes.com
