Apple-eating Genoa bear eludes capture

A large black bear that makes regular trips to the home of Betty Bourne in Genoa has thus far eluded capture by Carl Lackey, biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife.

"We poured bacon grease and honey in the trap, but he never touched a thing," Bourne said.

Bourne, who lives just a stone's throw from the Genoa Country Store, said there's a chance the bear has been trapped before and recognizes the steel bin in her front yard.

"They're very smart," she said.

"The bear comes every night between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and he's big, probably weights around 600 pounds," said Bourne's caretaker, Javier Ortiz. "He stays most of the night."

Bourne said she won't leave her house at night.

"It's bad, living this way," she said. "Carl (Lackey) said we live in a forest, but I say, I've lived here for 25 years and this is the first year I've seen a bear."

Lackey removed the trap on Monday, saying there had been no activity and he hadn't received any further complaints.

He asked Bourne to remove the fruit in an effort to spare the animal but she did not comply. He's received 60 complaints related to fruit trees from Lake Tahoe to Washoe Valley this fall, he said.

"Betty said she's afraid to go outside, but that's a conflict she helped create. Some people tolerate the bears, but others have zero tolerance, even though they are baiting the bears," Lackey said. "It's frustrating for us."

Bourne said it would cost a fortune to have all the fruit removed and her trees are only part of the problem. Fruit trees dot the landscape throughout Genoa.

"What does he want me to do?" Bourne said. "I can't get to the top of those trees and pick all those apples."

She said she also has about 20 deer in her yard, some of them so tame they will lick her cheek.

Lackey said the "Disney" deer injure more people in the United States than bears each year. Mule deer attract mountain lions and they are a real threat.

"People should be more worried about lions than the bears," he said. "We try to tell people here that they're living in a forest and whether they had bear problems before or not, they have them now."

The scene looks anything but scary. The neat two-story Victorian stands on a large lot, complete with an orchard. Leaves dance across the lawn in a warm fall wind and apple and plum trees are still bending from the weight of their fruit. A buck rests under a tree in a neighbor's front yard. and leaves dance across the lawn in a warm fall wind.

Fruit trees, koi ponds and accessible garbage all increase the chances of a serious conflict, Lackey said.

Bears are not relocated, a measure that has proved unsuccessful. Instead, they receive on-site rehabilitation with aversive conditioning intended to alter the bear's behavior.

"We take lethal control if the bear is breaking into houses or cars," he said.

One bear was killed in Genoa about three weeks ago because it attacked livestock, a potential that exists just a few doors away at a nearby restaurant, an avoidable situation that could mean death for some bear, Lackey said.

"Wildlife belongs to everyone in state," he said. "We're dealing with a small percentage of people in direct contact with bear habitat and they're living here irresponsibly, when it comes to wildlife."

Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.

BREAKOUT

A few bear facts:

• There are between 735,000 and 941,000 black bears in North America, but just 200-300 of them in Nevada, the least of all western states. Historically, they lived throughout western, northeastern and parts of central Nevada.

• Bear population estimates haven't increased, but densities near urban areas have. This redistribution began in the early 1990s following a very long drought. Once the bears learned that garbage was always available and much easier to forage, they reduced their ranges to encompass these neighborhoods.

Cubs teach their cubs and the result, is more bears in the same confined area due to the available food resource.

• Bears are in these areas regularly whether people see them or not. A sighting does not necessarily constitute a threat.