Bears: coming for your fruit, gleaning troop

[Michelle]

Well, here we ago again. It’s been a great year for ‘wild’ fruit but that means Jamestown will have issues with bears habituating to being close to people and homes. That ends badly for our bears, and puts people at risk.

So, pick your apples, at least the ones you can reach, ones close to your home, to reduce the potential for an escalating situation. I’ll be picking mine this weekend, and hauling them off as compost.

There is an excellent group from Boulder who would love to help out Jamestown with fruit gleaning - if you want help please reach out and I’ll help with arrangements. The fruit is donated to shelters, canned if it’s worthy, and given to animal sanctuaries on the front range.

I just heard the air horn on Mesa!
??

[John Hardman]

        MAMA BEAR & CUB/Yearling, Eating apples on Mesa Street.  More details to come.  

Pass it on>  OUR BEARS are going to be in town for a few days, until the fruit and berries are gone.

~ SOB john

BIG MAMA and CUB ~ both Redish/Brown.  Beware around Mesa St (East of School, Creek Side).

There is lots to eat over that part of town.  

CLEAN & LOCKED
CARS  &  HOMES
STASH YOUR TRASH

Let's keep everybody safe.

~ j

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[Jackie Dow]

This is going a bit too far, fruit is the most natural food they can find now.
Let them eat the fruit , get fat ,and hibernate!
If they can't eat the fruit, they'll likely break into cars and garages and get into trash.
I just watched a couple videos of bears in south Boulder, taken today , about an hour ago, and they were not threatening anyone.
Nobody was calling the DOW to report  them, or have them tagged, or removed from the neighborhood.
When was the last bear attack in Jamestown? Do they go after people there? Pets?
I see an occasional bear in my yard, it leaves when the sun comes up enough, and never bothers me or my pets.
I've had bears break into my car , years ago one tried to get in the house, but dogs ran them off, just a little damage to the door.
Not even as much damage ,as the dogs did to the other door, or siding on the house.
I just don't get understand why you would want to remove the most healthy thing the bears could eat there .
Please explain why you are so afraid of a few bears.
Tell the stories of the bear attacks on humans and pets in Jamestown. I have not heard of any attacks from bears.
I'm feeling safe from them at my house. Unfortunately, fruit trees don't grow here, or I'd plant some.
Anyone able to grow apple trees in the Bar K? If so I'll get some and plant them.
Be kind to the bears, and let them eat the fruit.

[Michelle]

Jackie, thanks for your input. It’s true that in good mast years, we don’t seem to have as many break-ins. Your comment is a common position, and I do get what you’re conveying.

With regard to safety, I’ve had a slightly different experience since I sometimes leave for work at odd, dark hours and have squared off with the occasional knucklehead bear that won’t get out of my way so I can get to my car. I choose to remove the apples so I don’t have to deal with any negative surprises or secondary tree damage. There’s plenty of rogue apple trees in the canyon to fill the belly. Although ‘natural’, the jury is out on whether apples are ‘good’ because the trees would not be here except for people, and that gets into more complicated concerns. I’m a big fan of natural food sources outside of town.

However…we will always have bears in town eating fruit. The point is to be safe and smart about it, not encourage them to hang out, and to be aware of the consequences of habituation.

Thankfully, Boulder bears are not JT/Bar-K bears, so we don’t have the same level of conflict complexity to deal with.

All, keep in mind we will have active bears until food sources dry up- only when calories burned begins to exceed intake for a while - will they hibernate (it’s not as simple as cold temperatures and shorter days).

So, late November…hopefully