Mineral County residents should be aware that there is more bear activity in the area this time of the year as Northern Nevada black bears ramp up their calorie count to get ready for hyperphagia (the process of bears seeking out extra calories to fatten up for hibernation). On Monday, September 27, NDOW (Nevada Department of Wildlife) received a call about a bear spotting in or near Walker Lake, and that may become more prevalent.
“We are seeing that more often- at least a bear or two per year in that area,” says NDOW Public Information Officer Ashley Sanchez. She explains that the bears are most active late August through late fall, trying to ramp up their diet to consume around 25,000 calories per day to prepare for the winter. Last year a female and two cubs were spotted in Walker Lake, and they could likely be the same ones that were called on earlier this week.
“The only thing that is on bears’ minds right now is food. They find attractants such as unsecured trash, bird feeders, or birdseed and they have good memories, so they come back to the place where they found food before,” Sanchez says. Bears can also travel far; Sanchez believes that most that wander into Mineral County are from the Sierra Nevada, but they’ve received calls about bears spotted as far away as Caliente and Elko, too. NDOW doesn’t really capture and relocate bears because they will remember their original food source and travel long distances to get back to it so the only way to deter bears is to remove those attractants.
“Right now, they’ll be more active so it’s really important to be securing attractants. If you have chickens or bird feeders, consider electric fencings, scatter birdseed on the ground, secure gardens, and trees,” Sanchez says.
There have been three bears hit by cars near Walker Lake just this year, so people should be aware that bears are moving around a lot and be careful when driving.
“Attractants bring bears into neighborhoods which brings them into the roads, so we’d like to remind people to drive safe,” adds Sanchez.
When confirming that bears do in fact need that much food to prep for winter, Sanchez emphasizes that in the wild, bears find berries, seeds, and nuts to survive but it takes a lot for a bear to get to that daily calorie count, so they go after easy food sources like trash.
People will call the Bear Hotline to report a sighting, and then NDOW can figure out if it’s a return visitor and will work with property owners about how to deal with it. However, every call or issue is managed on a case-by-case basis. Sanchez says that in places like Lake Tahoe, they will release bears near the same place they are captured and use dogs and rubber pellets to scare them away from the area in a process called “aversive conditioning” (however, they will do a soft release for a mother and cubs).
“Here in Northern Nevada, we’re in an area abundant with wildlife and that includes bears. It doesn’t just fall on one agency, it takes all of us to keep our bears wild,” Sanchez says.
For resources about how to keep Nevada wildlife and your property safe, visit www.ndow.org. To report bear activity in your area, call the Bear Hotline at 775-688-2327.
