7/15/08 - Wildlife in Boulder

Being from Houston (then DC, then STL), I am accustomed to certain wildlife. There were the super pesky squirrels waging constant war on my bird feeders in STL. There were (dead) deer in the back yard in DC. (They didn't make the nearby street crossing and would limp to the back and expire. I knew there was another dead one in the morning when I'd see a bunch of Turkey Vultures in the big tree in the back yard just waiting for their literal opening to chow down). And in Houston there were the mosquitoes. While insects, they count as ferocious wildlife.

Here in Boulder things are a little different. Look what has been in the backyard about 1 mile from our home:



Yup. A bear. I've not seen one up close yet, but many friends tell of finding them in their backyards rummaging through their garbage cans and eating their dog's food. Crazy!

Hopefully this momma bear stays in the foothills. It'd be sad to see her be euthanized. Sad she lost her cub already. Sort of makes the "Squirrel Relocation Project of 2005" look minor!

Here is the accompanying news story from the Daily Camera (local newspaper).

A mother bear caught resting up in a tree in a south Boulder neighborhood on Monday is on her last limb with state wildlife officers.

The female black bear had been resting about 30 feet up in a tree in the back yard of a house on Miami Way.

Wildlife officers were able to haze the bear back into the foothills overnight, said Jennifer Churchill, spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

“We decided to baby-sit her for a bit, and she headed back,” Churchill said.

The bear was probably the same female that was caught in the area June 24, Churchill said.

The roughly 4-year-old, 175-pound bear was tranquilized and moved from a tree at 3615 Moorhead Ave., and was said by wildlife officers to be the mother of a cub that was electrocuted and killed.

The cub reportedly climbed up a power pole in south Boulder and possibly bit a wire. The cub then fell on a residential fence below, and a neighbor called police to report the dead animal.

Churchill said since the distraught mother bear has probably become accustomed to eating human food from trash cans in the area, it could be euthanized if it shows up again.

“We’re going to hope for the best,” Churchill said.

She said residents in the area should put away or secure all trash, clean outdoor grills and keep their windows closed.

“Don’t do anything to entice the bears,” Churchill said, because at least one animal’s life hangs in the balance.

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