In Sunday's Chronicle, writer Tom Stienstra talks about California's expanding population of ursine creatures. He points out that it appears that the back country population of bears is stable and apparently non-threatening to hikers and backpackers: the bears avoid contact and survive on a normal diet found in the back country. On the other hand, bears in the Tahoe Basin and in the National parks behave quite differently. Those bears associate food with people. Find a human, find a meal, maybe as benign as dog/cat food.
His stats imply what Tahoma residents know already: bears are becoming better burglars, able to get through doors, windows, and sheds without difficulty. According to Stienstra, 40 bears have been killed this year, 29 on the Nevada side, 11 on the California side, either destroyed after repeated food raids or hit by cars, far higher than prievious years.
His complete article can be found in B Section, Oct. 24,2010. , @ sfgate.com.
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