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SALT LAKE CITY — Black bear encounters are way up along the Wasatch Front, and Division of Wildlife Resources biologists say our hot weather is partly to blame.
Most recently, one was spotted in the neighborhood of Quail Canyon Drive in Logan. As you might guess, they're looking for food. Still, there's a lot more going on that's bringing people and bears closer together.
"I saw a bear frolicking in my backyard right here. It was just playing on the grass, and I'm like, 'That's a bear!'" Gordon Willey said. He and his wife Michele Willey first saw the 3-year-old male black bear Wednesday night.
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officers were able to safely relocate the bear.
"I've lived in Cache Valley nearly my entire life, and I've never heard of a bear sighting here. And so the fact that it ended up in our backyard was very shocking when it walked through," Michele Willey said.
If it seems like this sort of thing is happening a lot this year, that's because it is. The Division of Wildlife Resources had 90 black bear nuisance calls through Oct. 1 this year, compared to 50 during the same period last year.
"In the fall, bears are really trying to pack on fat to last them to the winter time," said Darren DeBloois, a Division of Wildlife Resources biologist.
Debloois said that's what they're doing now — looking in campgrounds, roaming closer to trails — as it appears some late cold weather this past spring impacted some of their food sources.
"Things like choke cherry and service berry are just not really producing this year," he said.
With this warm weather, DeBloois said the black bears may delay hibernation, and we could see more of them.
On top of that, DeBloois said the bear population is growing along with our own, and more people are going into the backcountry than ever before. One hiker did suffer minor injuries from an attack in late July in Big Cottonwood Canyon, but thankfully most of these encounters turn out just fine.
If you come face to face, DeBloois said get loud, make yourself look big, and they will almost always back off.
