Black bear swipes at Steamboat man on his morning walk
Steamboat Pilot & Today
Colin Chupik/Courtesy photo
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers responded to a bear-human incident Tuesday morning in Steamboat Springs where a male walker sustained minor abrasions to his arm, but was able to finish his walk before going to receive first aid.
Around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, the man notified CPW that he had been swiped at from behind by a black bear while on a morning walk on the path connecting Walton Creek Road and Mount Werner Circle near Steamboat Resort. The walker had noticed a yearling cub in the area and then felt a swipe, was knocked to the ground and received scrapes on his arm due to the fall.
Rachael Gonzales, CPW northwest region public information officer, said wildlife officials have set up bear traps and placed signage to notify people walking the trail of increased bear activity. As of Wednesday morning, no bears were caught in the traps.
Gonzales said residents and visitors to Steamboat need to remember that bears, including sows protecting their cubs, are active in the area currently, so everyone needs to practice good “living in bear country” principles.
“If you see a bear, don’t run,” Gonzales advised. “Stand still, stay calm and slowly back away until the bear is out of sight. If you see cubs, their mother is usually close by. Leave the area immediately to give them space.”
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Gonzales said the first reaction by humans should not be reaching for a cell phone, but rather to slowly back away and make noise so that the bear knows the person is present. People should observe where the escape route is for the bear and not block that route.
“As cool as it is to get these videos and photos, it’s not worth it,” Gonzales said. “Make noise. Don’t panic. Being alert, keeping your dog on a leash and knowing what to do if you encounter a bear is important.”
Keep Bears Wild-Steamboat educator Christy Bubenheim encourages walkers or runners not to wear ear buds so they can focus on natural surroundings and help avoid wildlife encounters. Other advice includes talking while walking in pairs or wearing a bear bell to make noise for a quiet single walker.
Residents can learn more bear aware tips during a presentation hosted by nonprofit Keep Bears Wild-Steamboat at 5-6 p.m. June 6 at Library Hall in Steamboat. Residents who would like to volunteer as Keep Bears Wild ambassadors are encouraged to attend the educational talk.
The presentation will show how best to coexist with black bears, including tips for hiking and recreating in bear country and tactics for making a home less desirable to bears that live locally. More information is available at CPW.state.co.us/Bears, Facebook page Keep Bears Wild-Steamboat and SteamboatSprings.net/BearAware.
Bubenheim posted on the group’s Facebook page on May 8 that locals are seeing the mother bear tagged 1036 with her naturally thin yearlings, who just came out of hibernation. Residents should scare the bears away whenever possible with loud noises or honking horns to reinforce the bears’ fear of humans. Habituated bears that are no longer scared of humans are more at risk of getting into a situation that could lead them to being trapped and killed.
“Scare them away from you the best that you can, safely,” Bubenheim said. “Call CPW or dispatch so that they can use other means to more aggressively haze them. When bears become this habituated to humans, they become a safety risk to humans, and by CPW policy may need to be killed if they are posing a danger to their human neighbors. The best thing you can do is make them think that humans are the scariest things they will ever encounter.”
Residents are asked to remove bear attractants from their property, securely lock bear-resistant trash containers, lock vehicles, and close and lock first-floor windows and doors. Bubenheim added that a Steamboat man was found this week to be feeding bears illegally out of his apartment window, for which he will face a citation.
