Bear looking for food shows up on Carson City's west side; NDOW to release back into wild

UPDATE: The 19-year-old bear captured Tuesday in Carson City by wildlife officials has died as a result of a brain tumor after he was tranquilized, with the intention of being released later into the wild, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Go here for the updated version of this story.
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With recent bear sightings around Carson City, including Tuesday morning off of Minnesota Street, it is a sure sign that fall has set in as the capital city area is seeing increased bear foraging activity, according to wildlife officials.

The bear seen on Minnesota Street in Carson City on Tuesday morning was darted with tranquilizer and will be released back into the mountains, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Bears are typically active and foraging during the spring but in fall, black bears experience changes in metabolism that drives the need to consume as many rich calories as possible. Motivated by signals from nature known as zeitgebers, the bears increase their daily caloric intake from 3,000 calories per day to upwards of 25,000 calories per day, according to NDOW.

Areas most at risk of attracting bears by granting access to garbage and other attractants are the Tahoe Basin, west Carson City and the foothill areas of Douglas and Washoe counties.

This metabolic spike is an important signal to the bear to bulk up and gain the fat that will sustain the animal through hibernation and periods of lean food sources. Scientists estimate that black bears may forage as many as 20 hours a day at this time.

During this transition, residents in bear country are asked to diligently manage food, garbage and other attractants around the home and yard in order to avoid attracting bears. NDOW recognizes that bears rummaging through garbage or eating apples in backyards may be perceived as a concern and possibly frightening.

"However, it is your responsibility while living or recreating in bear habitat to remove these attractants before further steps are taken by NDOW. Don’t wait until it’s too late: remove attractants before you have a bear encounter," according to NDOW's Bear Logic webpage.

By allowing a bear access to your trash, even just once, you are rewarding that behavior and it will revisit your home. Bears may become human-habituated and human-food conditioned, which often times leads them into conflict with people. They may sometimes get to the point where they constitute a public safety risk and have to be killed to avoid a dangerous encounter. This is not fair to the bear. Living in bear country is unique and requires year round responsibility.

Here are things to know:
— Bears have a sense of smell seven times stronger than a bloodhound and eyesight as good as a human's
— Any scent, especially one of odorous foods like fish or other meats, may attract a bear to your home and yard
— Remove bird feeders completely until later in the year
— Remove fallen fruit off the ground promptly
— Use bear-resistant garbage cans and wait to set trash out until the day of pick up
— Store pet food inside
— Do not leave food or other scented items in your car
— Bears fed intentionally or unintentionally by people may become bold and aggressive. They may be killed if they become a threat to public safety or cause property damage.

In the rare event a bear breaks into your home, move to a safe location and contact local authorities. Wildlife experts caution against directly confronting the bear or blocking the bear's escape route.

Whether you are living or recreating in bears country you should know how to act in a bear encounter. Keep in mind that bears exhibit stress behaviors which indicate their anxiety and preference to avoid conflict with you. These are not necessarily signs of an aggressive bear, according to NDOW.

— Moaning and woofing while avoiding direct eye contact with you.
— Clacking of their teeth and smacking of their jaws.
— Stomping on their front feet and false charges which stop short of making contact with you.

In most cases these behaviors are the bears way of telling you that you are too close. Back up and leave the area. Although black bears very rarely attack people, those attacks have increased in number over the last 20-30 years. Knowing how to behave in an encounter will help keep you and your loved ones safe.

Never approach or feed a bear. Give them respect by keeping your distance and observing them from a safe area.
Give a bear plenty of room to pass by and it usually will.

Keep a close watch on children while they are outdoors and teach them what to do if they see a bear. Tell them to stay together, back away from the bear and find an adult.

If a bear approaches you, speak in a loud, firm voice "get away bear!" Raise your arms to make yourself appear bigger and back away to a safe area. You cannot outrun a black bear as they are capable of bursts of speed up to 35 miles per hour!

In the rare event of a bear attack people have succeeded in driving away the bear by hitting it with stout sticks, rocks and punching it in the nose.

Carry bear spray and know how to use it. NDOW does not endorse any product but its bear biologist and game wardens use Counter Assault for close bear encounters.

If you have question or if your safety is at risk, or if you have an encounter with a black bear or a mountain lion, or if an attack occurs, contact the Department of Wildlife's Dispatch office at (775) 688-1331 or (775) 688-1332. If for any reason you are unable to contact dispatch, please contact your local police or sheriff's office, or the Nevada Highway Patrol, and ask them to reach one of our wardens.

NDOW also has a BEAR Hotline at 775-688-BEAR wired directly into NDOW’s Dispatch Center in Reno. Normal business hours are 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. The hotline is for those who are experiencing conflicts with bears after removal of all human attractants.