
Spring pits humans against wildlife
Annual awakening sees rise in conflicts
Saturday, April 29, 2006
It’s spring, and as happens every spring when wildlife and people start to emerge from their respective winter naps, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has its hands full trying to keep the two apart.
Black bears emerge from the dens looking for a quick pick-me-up for a complex digestive system that’s been on hold for six or seven months; elk and deer are eager for something fresh and green; and mountain lions are, well, being mountain lions.
Which means they go where the food is, and they don’t really care if that food is a deer, a dog or small, two-legged prey wearing OshKosh B’Gosh overalls.
Earlier this month a 7-year-old boy, walking with his family on a popular trail on Flagstaff Mountain west of Boulder, was attacked by a mountain lion.
Fortunately, members of the 7-year-old boy’s family saw the attack and drove off the lion before it could seriously harm the youngster.
In a bit of understatement, Claire Solohub of the DOW said, “Whenever you have wild animals and people living together, we can’t always control what happens.”
Except to the lion, or at least one that appeared to be the one that attacked the youngster. The DOW set traps around the attack site and finally tracked a lion, treed it and killed it.
A DOW spokesman couldn’t be sure it was the same lion because necropsy tests on the lion didn’t reveal any traces of the attack. But given the relative rarity of mountain lions, even around a place like Boulder where human-conditioned deer roam the streets, this seemed to be the right lion.
“We are still confident that this is the lion that attacked the boy,” said Tyler Baskfield, public information specialist for the DOW. “We would like to be able to say for certain that we killed the right lion, but unfortunately all we can say is that these protein tests neither confirm nor disprove that this is the lion that was involved in the attack.”
“The rest of the evidence points to the fact that this is the right lion,” Baskfield said.
Jump now to southern Colorado, where Wednesday a bear allegedly attacked a 29-year-old man from Farisita after the man exited an outhouse and surprised the bear.
According to the DOW, ranch hand Harold Cerda stopped to use an outhouse, and while he was preoccupied, a bear got into Cerda’s truck and ate Cerda’s lunch.
When Cerda left the outhouse, the bear, disgruntled over Cerda’s poor timing or his poor selection of lunch items, allegedly smacked Cerda before stomping off.
The report said Cerda suffered bruising and possible nerve damage to his neck and shoulder area and was treated and released from a Pueblo hospital.
But the bear signed its own death warrant when it slapped Cerda. According to its strict policy of killing wildlife that crosses the line to messing with people, the DOW said the bear will be killed if caught.
“Wildlife policies are pretty straightforward when it comes to bears injuring people,” said District Wildlife Manager Bob Holder, who might have more experience with human/bear interactions than anyone currently with the DOW. “Our first priority is to make sure people are safe.”
Holder called the event “a chance encounter” and indirectly blamed Cerda for causing it.
“Most conflicts between people and bears, some sort of food source is involved. In this case, it was the lunch left within easy access,” Holder said. “People should remember that windows and doors of vehicles should be shut and latched to prevent entry.
“The same holds true for homeowners. An open window or door is an open invitation for bears.”
Just like clockwork, spring bear incidents have been reported in Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs and the Roaring Fork Valley.
Although no other human has yet reported being attacked, bird feeders, grills, dog-food containers and trash cans are prime targets.
On a less-intimidating note, the DOW is asking home owners and gardeners to “deer-proof” their homes and lawns or even refrain from feeding wildlife.
Subdivisions that exist within traditional deer habitat seem to have the most conflicts, said Shaun Deeney, an area wildlife manager in Colorado Springs and formerly the district wildlife manager for Glade Park.
“Several factors have caused urban deer to habituate to humans, including intentional feeding and the absence of hunting in developed areas,” Deeney said. “Homeowners would be wise to ‘deer-proof’ their ornamental gardens by selecting plants that deer do not like.”
Wildlife always gets the short end when it comes to fooling with humans. Bears, mountain lions, even elk get killed.
Witness the elk that earlier this spring attacked a couple of people in Estes Park and had to be put down.
Later, it was discovered the elk had injuries consistent with getting hit by a car, according to the DOW.
No one wants to see wildlife needlessly killed.
But the no-hunting attitude prevalent in Boulder means deer wander everywhere, and deer are the primary prey of lions.
Bears are hungry, big and strong, and they’ll eat your lunch if you’re not mindful of closing doors and windows and preventing the temptation. Elk wandering the streets of Estes Park are great for tourism, not so great when upset and injured.
We’re supposed to be smarter than wildlife, although you couldn’t prove it if you’ve ever sat through a legislative session. Still, wildlife needs a break, and it’s up to us to provide it.











