Bears behaving badly, but they're not entirely to blame.
Story by Eliana Padilla
Photographs by Minesh Bacrania
This year, the local bears have been testing the patience of Los Alamos residents. As of June 30, there have been seventy-two calls to Los Alamos County to report nuisance bears. Additionally, statistics from animal control show the number of bear encounters reported to the county has been increasing, particularly for residents in White Rock.
To a bear, our community has all the trappings of a family resort: all-you-can-eat dumpster dive bars, choose-your-own chickens, and (in most years) tree-ripened fruit for dessert.
Bears are creatures of habit and will repeatedly return to a known food source. Mama bears teach their young that dumpster raids and carport freezers are a perfectly acceptable way to get a high-calorie meal.
As humans get more comfortable with bears wandering the neighborhoods, bears too get more comfortable with humans. Bears are cute, but they’re still wild animals, and a startled or threatened bear can quickly become unpredictable and dangerous.
Bear attacks are rare, but they do happen. Since 2016, there have been two bear attacks on humans in the Los Alamos area. One bear was protecting her cubs after being surprised by a runner in the Valles Caldera. The other bear was apparently protecting its dumpster haul in the Pajarito Ski area. Both human victims sustained serious injuries from the attacks. Both bears, on the other hand, ended up dead.
Stash your trash
Video above: A bear attempting a mid-afternoon raid of a properly latched bear-resistant roll cart in downtown Los Alamos.
One of the biggest bear attractants in our community continues to be human trash. While you may not mind occasionally picking up the mess of an overturned trash bin, your neighbors will probably not appreciate the outcome if their dog or child happens to accidentally startle a mama bear and its cubs.
Unlike some communities in bear country, Los Alamos County does not require residents to have bear-resistant roll carts for residential trash collection. Bear-resistant roll carts are heavier and less convenient to use than the standard cans, but this inconvenience to humans is small compared to the consequences that bear might suffer.
As of July 1, there’s been a high demand for these, and County Environmental Services is experiencing a backlog of requests. “A new order of bear-resistant roll carts has been placed with an estimated delivery time of 1 to 2 months,” according to Los Alamos County. To join the waiting list for a bear-resistant roll cart, residents must sign up using the online registration form here. Requests submitted by email or telephone will not be accepted.
Bear-resistant roll carts have had a somewhat tarnished history in Los Alamos. The first generation, with a top-mounted, one-finger latch, required a fair amount of manual fiddling. The second generation, with a front-mounted squeeze latch, are easier to use and automatically unlatch during trash collection. However, the exposed inner latching mechanism tends to malfunction when it gets clogged with debris from unbagged trash. (If yours is acting up, a couple of drops of dish detergent and a blast from a garden hose can help.) The newest version of bear-resistant roll carts, with a hidden front latch, use a sealed locking mechanism that has, so far, proven extremely reliable.
The county has also been working to install bear-resistant roll carts in parks and other community spaces and has also replaced all its commercial dumpsters with bear-resistant versions. Like the residential cans, these are more difficult to open, especially by people of smaller stature. Eco-station staff have come up with a retrofitted step that now allows easier access, which can be added to an existing dumpster on request.
Check your chickens
Backyard chickens are also a popular menu item for local bears, and some chicken owners even acknowledge that losing a few chickens is just a part of backyard farming in Los Alamos.
But a bear returning to a coop night after night sets the stage for human-wildlife conflict. Perhaps the most effective deterrent for bears is electric fencing for chicken coops and livestock enclosures, but it must be energetic enough to provide a zap that the bear will remember.
Video above: A properly-sized electric fence is an effective deterrent for bears.
One way or another, a nuisance bear is likely a dead bear
Once a bear has made itself comfortable in an area, it will keep coming back. The Los Alamos County Police Department and Animal Control try to use a variety of less-than-lethal methods to try to discourage problem bears: pepper balls, bear spray, lights and sirens, and rubber buckshot. Some bears take the hint, but the more stubborn ones aren’t deterred.
LAPD has also received multiple reports this year of local residents trying to deter bears with firearms. While it’s legal to defend your life and property (including pets and livestock), it’s also important to keep in mind the risks that come with stray bullets flying around residential areas. An annoyed or injured bear might run away, but is also might become an unpredictable danger to the entire community.
Trapping and relocating bears is often touted as a safe and positive solution, but the reality is grim. The stress and territorial conflict often prove fatal to bears, particularly cubs. Relocation also often results in bear family separations, leaving the cubs unprotected and at risk for predators.
The best thing we can do for the bears is to make our community as uninviting for them as we can. A bear without a fear of humans is likely to have its life cut short.
“We have the public safety concern, but we also have the animal [welfare] concern,” Los Alamos Animal Control supervisor Theresa Phelan said. “With community effort, we can work together to keep both bears and the community safe and find the middle ground of coexisting.”
What can you do?
If a bear is calmly wandering through your neighborhood, let it be and give it plenty of room
If the bear is causing a disturbance, call Los Alamos County dispatch at 505-662-8222
More information about bear interactions and safety can be found at Bearwise.
And about those bear-resistant roll carts.
Each residential solid waste customer in Los Alamos County is entitled to one bear can at no additional cost. As of early July, the county is awaiting delivery of a new order of cans, which should arrive in early- to mid-August. Sign up for yours here.
General questions about roll cart maintenance, commercial dumpster step retrofits, and other waste-related issues can be emailed the Eco Transfer Station at solidwaste@losalamosnm.gov.