Living with wildlife – Bear with me you turkey

In our mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado bear encounters are not uncommon but recently there seems to be more than usual. Last year, a YouTube video went viral of a “chocoholic” bear breaking into a candy shop. Recently a bear walked into the back of a local pub and hung out for awhile and nobody noticed. Maybe he was seen as just a big black promotional can of Guinness Beer. Last week a bear was seen strolling around our parish’s outdoor Stations of the Cross apparently stopping at most of the stations. He must have been a devout Catholic bear.

We’ve had several visits by bears this summer into our garage to drag out the garbage and even had a mother bear and two cubs try to break into our kitchen window. Just the other morning a bear climbed onto or deck to get the bird feeder hanging from a tree. The usual reaction is to quickly get the camera and get out of its way. But it’s important to remember that a bear encounter is always on the bear’s terms.

Yesterday I got chased a couple of hundred yards by a turkey on my morning walk up the Forest Service road. He was a big “tom” and I have to admit was embarrassed to have to retreat from such a lowly bird. But, once I read up about how aggressive wild turkeys can be and discovered that my wife was chased by him in her car and a neighbor was chased by him last winter while snow blowing his driveway; I will not question my macho masculinity anymore. However, we may just have wild turkey for Thanksgiving.

I have been privileged to encounter mountain lions, bull moose, elk and the like and while experiencing creatures in the wild is exhilarating, there is a downside to these nature encounters. Recently, a bear broke into a neighbor’s house, ransacked it and critically injured their dog. Unfortunately, that bear and the momma bear and her cubs will probably have to be put down since she is teaching her cubs foraging behavior in human habitats. They have already learned that lifestyle. For many years there was a 2 or 3 strike rule. A bear that started foraging around homes would be relocated and only if they came back would be put down. That has changed as more people have moved into bear and other wildlife habitat and their natural food sources are shrinking.

I think a new nature imperative is required. It is not so much about protecting us but about protecting wildlife by disciplining our actions if we live in bear country. For example, keeping garage doors closed and garbage in bear proof cans. We have to do extra things like not leaving bird feeders out at night and cleaning out grills because bears can smell any kind of food miles away. The old Forest Service promotional saying from Smokey the Bear was “Only you can prevent forest fires”. Maybe we need a new saying like “Only you can prevent the premature death of your local wildlife”.