In early summer, the U.S. Forest Service caught a young bear on video wandering down a series of cars in a parking lot near the Upper North Platte River trying to open the doors. They were all locked.
Not long after, what is likely the same bear showed up on Highway 130 in the Ryan Park Campground, said Laramie regional wildlife biologist Lee Knox. It had more luck that time.
It was sitting in the driver’s seat of an RV eating a sandwich.
“It doesn’t take long once bears get habituated enough to people consistently coming down into campsites and neighborhoods and getting food rewards to learn how to open car doors,” said Knox, with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
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More recently, a Texas woman camping at Vedauwoo called Game and Fish after two muddy bear prints slammed onto her car window while she edited photos around 11 p.m. She told biologists she thought for a second it was somebody playing a prank on her in a bear suit. She quickly realized it was an actual bear trying to break into her car and drove away.
In another instance a couple years ago in the Snowy Range, a bear tried opening the door to a van while two kids slept inside and their parents talked around a campfire. The parents hit the car alarm and the bear scrambled off.
How does a bear learn to open a car door?
“They lose their fear of people and see them as food rewards,” Knox said. “They’re like a raccoon, and they drag their paws the right way down a car door and it opens. They’re smart, and once they get habituated to human food, they figure it out.”
Stories like this are clustered in the southeast portion of Wyoming where black bears and humans are numerous, but bear and human interactions are increasing around the state and region.
Biologists like Knox and Game and Fish’s large carnivore section supervisor Dan Thompson say it’s a matter of more people – and especially people unaccustomed to recreating in bear country – spending time in areas with increasing numbers of bears.
The woman at Vedauwoo told Game and Fish she hadn’t expected bears to be in the area. She said wildlife officials should post signs.
It’s not possible for biologists to place a sign everywhere there could be a bear, Knox said. Instead, he offered: “Assume all of Wyoming is bear country.”
As Wyoming’s high country continues to dry, particularly on the western half of the state, wildlife officials say bear conflict could also increase. Berry crops remain strong in the Snowy, Sierra Madre and Wind River ranges, but that can also change. If bears can’t find enough food, they tend to wander.
Both biologists also stressed that black bears aren’t generally dangerous if they’re not habituated to food.
For anyone living or playing in Wyoming’s mountains, Knox and Thompson offered a series of advice on how to keep yourself – and bears – safe the rest of this summer and fall.
Call if you see a bear near humans or food
Many people believe if they call wildlife officials about a black bear, the bear will be killed on the spot, Thompson said. That’s just not the case. “None of us wants to catch a bear and kill it,” Thompson said. “But once a bear becomes food conditioned, really food conditioned, we don’t have any options.” Don’t wait a week or more to call biologists about a bear wandering in rural neighborhoods, getting into bird feeders or campsites. If biologists catch bears early, they can help people secure food and vehicles and hopefully the bear will move on to better habitat.
Keep food inside
Store any food including dog food, snacks, meat and vegetables in vehicles or other bear-proof containers. People recreating in grizzly bear country might be used to properly storing food, but those outside of the northwest corner should also be aware, Knox said. Bears can open coolers, garbage bags and plastic tubs.
Store food in vehicles (and lock the doors)
If you’re camping, make sure you pack any food and cooking utensils in your vehicle. Vehicles can be an effective bear proof container, unless the doors are unlocked. As black bears have shown biologists in many Wyoming mountain ranges, bears can open car, truck and camper doors. Make sure you lock your vehicle at night or when you leave. If you see a bear trying to get in your car, use your car alarm to scare it away.
Clean up your camp and take garbage with you
Don’t put garbage in fire pits, even if you have a campfire. Food residue can stay on logs, which bears can then carry into the woods. If the bear-proof garbage container in your campground is full, take your garbage home with you instead of piling it up around the containers.