by TImothy Rutt
Now that it's springtime, the animals are getting restive, and hungry: we've already had sightings of coyotes and bobcats on the prowl, and there was the La Crescenta bear.
Lori Paul in the Chaney Trail neighborhood (i.e. Altadena Bear Country) shares with us a safety tip sheet they use around the neighborhood, and offers some advice:
Local black bears travel trails and even streets at night back and forth between natural terrain in the Verdugo Mts. and along the front range of the San Gabriels. Urban sprawl has closed in on wildlife corridors and habitat. We live in bear country. ALL residents need to request, and properly use, bear-resistant trash cans (which are free in Altadena under the new trash services contract) and keep tempting sources of food out of sight and smell of bears, including crusty BBQ grill tops, bowls of pet food outdoors, overripe fruit on the ground, open compost piles, and even pies or other food cooling on counters with windows open. A fed bear is a dead bear. The bear captured by the CA Dept. of Fish & Game is now tagged and will be euthanized it returns to local neighborhoods. We all share responsibility for assuring that bears remain wild and un-habituated to people and their food.
Bear alert flyer after the jump.
Graphic: artist's conception of an opportunistic bear feeding.
