A video shared by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows a black bear foraging at a residence in Breckenridge.
The 45-second video, captured more than a week ago by a camera at the home of Jack and Cindy Waldrip, shows a tagged black bear walking up porch stairs to the outside of a door before the bear turns around, sits down on the stairs, then continues into the darkness.
Shouldn’t this bear in Breckenridge be asleep?
Well, it’s found enough “food” to forage even through the winter. This bear is off to rehab.
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Please ? secure ? your ? trash ? (year-round)! https://t.co/hXQ9zlyU6n #bearaware pic.twitter.com/zF39s0CCTE
— CO Parks & Wildlife (@COParksWildlife) February 25, 2019
Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Mike Porras said on Tuesday that the bear is one of two in the Breckenridge area that did not go into hibernation late last year. Porras said this is most likely because the bears found a steady source of calories, such as garbage, to sustain them through the winter. Though the bears haven’t been classified as potential nuisances, Porras said considering their young age they don’t belong in residential areas like these and are potentially very dangerous to people.
“What’s more important about this is not that the bears are up and around, it’s why,” Porras said. “There’s nothing cute or funny about these stories. If no one takes this seriously, we could see more situations like this.”
Porras said one of the two bears — the one without prior tags — has been trapped and taken to a rehabilitation center. As of Wednesday afternoon, Porras said the other tagged bear — presumably the one in the Waldrip’s video — had yet to be trapped.
Porras said because the bear isn’t currently considered a nuisance, if it’s trapped it also will be sent to a rehabilitation center.
“But if people continue to leave trash sources available to them,” Porras said, “bears find food sources easily, and the likelihood the bear will have to be put down increases significantly.”