Bear cub found dead

A bear cub was found dead Saturday morning alongside Emerald Bay Road near Taylor Creek.

Deputies said the 100- to150-pound cub appeared to have been struck by a vehicle sometime during the day before 11 a.m.

"It was relatively fresh kill - probably dead 2 to 3 hours," said Douglas Petri, an officer for El Dorado County Animal Control who picked up the carcass.

The dead cub may be one of the three bear cubs and one mother who have been breaking into homes in the Spring Creek Tract area since Labor Day.

In the more than 20 cases reported there, bears leaned against single-pane glass windows until they broke and then raided kitchens for sweets such as ice cream and cake. Many residences in the area, which sits on Forest Service land just north of Camp Richardson, are vacation homes.

"They have mostly been just horrible messes with broken glass and some cabinets got torn down," said Ann Bryant, founder and executive director of the BEAR League. "Every house needed a lot of cleanup. They were all single pane (windows). Double paned will keep bears out."

California Department of Fish and Game set traps for the troublesome bears but they were unsuccessful. Two depredation permits have also been issued in the area. The last bear incident reported at Spring Creek Tract came about two weeks ago.

Bryant said Sunday night that she wasn't sure which cub had been killed and would need to see the carcass before she could identify it as one of bears wanted by Fish and Game.

She said it's not unusual, especially at this time of year, for cubs to get killed crossing a road because they are eating 20 hours a day and are getting more independent.

"There are very few that are hibernating," she said. "Cubs are starting to get away from their mothers and they're not too streetwise yet ... until we get a pretty good snow load they don't go to sleep."