Re: bear breaks into Wawona houses

I got these two notices today:


Dear community members,

As you may have heard, an adult bear has been seen wandering the
neighborhood over the past several days. He has attempted to enter several
homes and did successfully enter two houses on July 9th. No one has been
injured. On the morning of the 10th, the Park's wildlife team was
notified. They brought a trap to Wawona and set it that evening. The bear
was captured later that night and was then tagged and collared on July 11.
He now has a yellow tag in his right ear with the number "86" on it and is
wearing a white collar. He has a blond body with darker brown legs, is
approximately six years old, and weighs 220 lbs.

On the afternoon of July 11, the bear was released inside the park,
southwest of Wawona (Long distance relocation is rarely successful). We
were hopeful that he would have been traumatized enough by his capture to
not want to return. Unfortunately, he was not. In the past several days,
he has broken into several houses and obtained significant amounts of food.
We are making every possible effort to attempt adverse conditioning
techniques (hazing) to get him to leave the neighborhood and spare his
life.

If you see this, or any other bear, in the developed areas of Wawona,
please call Park Dispatch (9-1-1) to report it. Our staff will respond and
attempt to haze the bear.

The wildlife team suspects that what attracted this bear to the
neighborhood were bird feeders, as he had a significant amount of bird seed
in his droppings. Please make sure that any bird feeders you have out are
taken down and stored away. Additionally, this is a good reminder to
always keep your vehicles clean of food and scented items, and to keep your
pet's food stored indoors.

Please make sure that when you go to bed, your doors and windows are
secure. The less food he obtains, the less likely he is to keep trying to
get it.

(See attached file: DSC02302.jpg)


Thank you for your cooperation,

Chad Andrews
Wawona Subdistrict Ranger
Yosemite National Park
W (209) 375-9520 x228
C (209) 742-8269
F (209) 375-9534




There have been eight incidents this week where bears have entered occupied
homes in Wawona. In almost all of these incidents, windows were left open,
or doors were not properly latched while the occupants were asleep in
another room. Additionally, when the bear was captured, its scat was full
of bird seed indicating that bird feeders had likely been attracting it to
homes. The Wildlife Management Staff will be closely monitoring bears in
the residential areas; however, it is the responsibility of park residents
to keep homes bear-proof!

Bears entering homes through open windows or doors is a yearly problem in
housing areas park-wide. This is a good time to remember if you are living
anywhere in Yosemite, you are living in bear habitat.

Please help keep bears safe and out of your house, by following these
suggestions:

ü Close and latch all windows and doors if you are not home.

ü Close and latch all windows and doors in unoccupied rooms when you
are home, especially windows and doors near the kitchen.

ü Remove attractants such as bird feeders, coolers, and recycling from
outside your home.



Remember to report bear sightings and incidents by leaving a message on the
Save-A-Bear Hotline (209) 372-0322.





Caitlin Lee-Roney
Wildlife Technician
Resources Management and Science Division
Yosemite National Park
9039 Village Drive, P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389
209.372.0476
209.372.0497 fax
caitlin_lee-roney@nps.gov

Wow that is incredible. I feel sorry for the bear, I suspect he might have to be put down eventually.

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hotrod4x5
Wow that is incredible. I feel sorry for the bear, I suspect he might have to be put down eventually.

Another example of animals being smarter than people.

My vote is for euthanizing the morons that leave out the welcome mat (open doors & windows) and the extra placesetting at the table (birdfeeders). They are obviously suffering from an incurable condition.

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szalkowski

Quote
hotrod4x5
Wow that is incredible. I feel sorry for the bear, I suspect he might have to be put down eventually.

Another example of animals being smarter than people.

My vote is for euthanizing the morons that leave out the welcome mat (open doors & windows) and the extra placesetting at the table (birdfeeders). They are obviously suffering from an incurable condition.

Where is the Like button?

Quote
szalkowski

Quote
hotrod4x5
Wow that is incredible. I feel sorry for the bear, I suspect he might have to be put down eventually.

Another example of animals being smarter than people.

My vote is for euthanizing the morons that leave out the welcome mat (open doors & windows) and the extra placesetting at the table (birdfeeders). They are obviously suffering from an incurable condition.

I hope those residents (or park visitors who might have been renting the cabins/homes) of the dwellings that the bear broke into because of an open window or unsecured door got a large fine from the Park Service as do other people in the park where a bear breaks into their vehicles, because these people were just as bad as those who leave food in their cars.

Personally, I think this bear is a goner and will have to be put down probably within a year. And I'm surprised that the Park Service doesn't ban the use of bird feeders within the park too. I thought it was against park regulations to feed the wildlife. Or are the people who stay and live in the inholdings exempt from the park's regulations?

Everyone has to follow the same park rules. In the notices (see original post) they mentioned removing feeders and anything that could attract bears and to secure windows and doors. Unfortunately, some bears are tenacious and will eventually have to be destroyed. I have a friend in Yosemite West that was in their kitchen with the side door closed and the bear came in when they were standing there.

So do you know if the people (residents or park visitors) who were in the cabins that the bear broke into because of an open window (or door) got fined?

If a bear breaks into your home even though you had your doors and windows securely closed, there's not much else that you could have done to prevent the intrusion and you shouldn't be fined by the Park Service, IMHO.

OTOH, if one leaves one's doors or windows open in their cabin so a bear could easily walk or climb in, then in my book one is being very negligent and careless if one lives in bear country and they should be fined.

And in regards to the bird feeders, the words on the notice that you posted here sounds more like a request to temporally remove the bird feeders until this problem bear goes away. I would have preferred a stronger wording that states that it's against park regulations to feed the wildlife and that bird feeders are prohibited within the park.

But then again, being an inholding, maybe feeding the wildlife via bird feeders are permitted on private property within Yosemite. I really don't know the exact park regulations in regards to this.

I have not heard if they had been fined.

This is on the Yosemite West homeowners web site:

What You Can Do to Keep Bears Wild

Remove food sources for bears in Yosemite West
Trash is the major attractant for bears in Yosemite West. Do not put trash outside on decks. Keep trash inside or dispose of trash in bear-proof dumpster.
Use clip locks on bear-proof dumpsters.
Clean food off of barbecues and remove grease cans.
Do not keep pet food outside. Keep cats indoors because bears are a predator for cats (owls, however, kill the most cats).
Remove all bird feeders, including hummingbird feeders.
Do not feed wild birds or other animals: do not put out wild bird seed or mineral blocks, which attract bears as well as deer.
Harvest fruit from all fruit trees and preferably cut fruit trees down. Fruit such as apples are not a natural food source in this habitat.

Bear-proof your house and vehicle
Close and lock your windows and doors at all times unless you can easily view open windows and doors. Bears can open all types of windows and doors that are shut, but not locked. Bears have also climbed trees and dropped down onto upper-story decks. One athletic bear even entered a house through a third-story window (see photos of damage).
If you park your vehicles outside, remove all objects (whether or not they are food items or have a scent) visible inside your vehicles. Bears can associate shapes with food and may break into a vehicle mistaking a similarly shaped object for food. Consider leaving all your vehicles windows open all the way and opening the door on pick-up truck shells so a curious bear can investigate without causing damage.

Inform Your Guests
Print this page and/or explain the issues with bears to all of your guests for their safety and the safety of your property.

What Does Not Work
Unfortunately, use of exterior motion detector lights have not proven to be a deterrent.
Squirting a garden hose at a bear doesn't work either. Bears like water and have even been found in hot tubs and in the sewer pond.

Related Links

Visit the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) for links to the IBN News newsletter and Bear Safety Videos that show how to stay safe in bear country.


I don't know if Wawona has something similar for their homeowners. Since there are NPS and DNC staff living in Wawona, they would know what rules have to be followed.

Rereading that notice that I just posted reminded me that leaving your car windows open can be interesting. Around 5 years ago we were staying at the condos in Yosemite West. One of the workers there had his truck parked in front of one of the buildings with the windows opened. While we were taking things to our car, a bear came along and crawled through one of the open windows and started looking for food. When the owner came out and started yelling, the bear got out of the truck and then proceeded to try to go through the main door of the building which was opened. When he was yelled at again, he proceeded to climb a tree that was next to a balcony and opened a cooler than someone had left on the balcony. Like I said, when it comes to food, the bears can be very tenacious.

My sister called the ranger yesterday to get an update (family in Wawona this weekend.) The rangers are hazing the bear nightly, trying to get it to move on.

Thanks for posting this info. My nephew and his teenage buddies will have to wash the Cheeto dust of their faces before sleeping outside on the deck, otherwise they may end up with a bear-tongue-washing. Just kidding, but they will all be more vigilant about food storage. We've become quite lax over the years since we used to keep garbage cans outside the cabin or drive to the Wawona Dump to watch the bears forage for dinner.

The people who are so selfish and ignorant as to leave bird feeders out in bear country are the ones who should be hazed and shot in the butt with a stun gun. The bears would not be attracted to these human domiciles if they were closing their windows and not having human food outside.

I hope to God this poor bear doesn't have to be destroyed because of the imbecilic actions of a few people.

This bear is now in Mammoth Lakes, Ca........it seems to have found a new neighborhood to harass.