Black bears are starting to show up in Utah’s residential areas. This morning a bear was spotted by several people in Park City.
Wild Aware Utah's founder Stephanie Natt said from now until about August bears are looking for food.
She said around this time, bears try to make up the pounds they lost while hibernating. Because the last winter season has been so dry, we may see more bears in residential areas.
“They’re gonna have more trouble finding wild food, and even some water sources," Natt said. "So they can turn easily to neighborhoods where we tend to leave things out inadvertently for animals like don’t build fences around our gardens or don’t cover up our compost piles or leave our trash out or pet-food bowls, and those are easy food for wildlife to get, so why should they work hard to find wild stuff if we make it real easy for them?”
Natt said it’s dangerous for the bears to eat our trash because it’s not healthy for them, and they become a hazard for us when they become accustomed to getting food from humans. If a bear gets along with a person, it may think other people would be the same way. When another human reacts differently, the bear might swat at the person, which could cause injury.
Spokesman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Mark Hadley, said that if you see a black bear, don’t panic.
“One of the worst things that you can do if you see a black bear is turn and run because bears are used to their prey doing that, turning and running away," Hadley said. "And so if you turn and if you panic and try to run away from a black bear, that might trigger a response in that bear. The bear might look at you as a prey item because you’re doing exactly what its prey does, try to flee.”
Hadley said the best thing to do in an encounter is make yourself big, make noises and be assertive. The bear will usually run off. If it attacks, it’s best to fight back.