Candy Dance and the three bears

A mama and two cubs, who found themselves surrounded by humans attending the annual Genoa Candy Dance, were reunited on Saturday.

The three bears are regulars in Nevada’s oldest settlement.

“A bear with two cubs that are frequently in Genoa were spotted on Main Street and ended up getting separated on either side of the street due to the sheer number of people who showed up,” according to Nevada Department of Wildlife Public Information Officer Ashley Sanchez. “One of the cubs was spooked and ran across Main Street through a crowd, and up a tree as the mother and the other cub hid in a secluded area on the other side of the street.”

Sanchez said state biologists darted the cub, caught it in a tarp, and moved it to the secluded area where the mother bear and other cub were hiding.

“The cub was only lightly sedated, and biologists waited with it about 40 minutes until it was fully awake,” she said. “It then wandered off into the wilderness with its mother.”

There’s a significant apple crop in Genoa after a record winter, and the bears gorging themselves.

“Bears are going through a phase called hyperphagia, when they build up as many calories as possible before going into their dens for the winter,” she said.

People across Western Nevada should take the following steps:

• Secure your garbage. 90 percent of bear incidents start with unsecured garbage. Securing and bear proofing your trash is the best thing you can do to deter bears and keep them wild. Douglas County offers bear-resistant garbage cans that can be left out. You can request one by calling your local waste management. In the meantime, keep your nonbear-resistant garbage cans stored in a locked shed or garage and only put it out the morning of trash pickup.
• Garbage ordinances are in place, which require residents to secure their trash to prevent bears from getting into them. Failure to do so can result in fines. Repeated violations can be reported to local code enforcement.
• Remove other attractants from your yard (bird feeders, pet food, clean dirty barbeques, trash, and all other food/scented items.)
• Remove food, trash, and other scented items from vehicles. Do not leave coolers in truck beds and keep vehicle windows up and doors locked when not in use.
• Do not leave doors and windows open when you are not home, or in unoccupied rooms overnight. Screen doors are no match for a curious bear.
• Install electric fencing around beehives and chicken coops.
• If you see bears near your home, scare them away: From an open window or safe distance, yell loudly and/or bang pots and pans to scare the bear away. Yelling things like “Hey bear!”, “Go bear!”, “Get out of here bear!” alerts those around you to what’s going on. You can also trigger your car alarm to scare them off as well. These methods can help “negatively condition” bears to humans and houses and teach them that it is not okay to enter these areas. For more information, visit our website at

https://www.ndow.org/blog/living-with-bears/

or our partners at BearWise:

https://bearwise.org/bear-safety-tips/keep-bears-out/

for more bear-safety tips. To report bear incidents, call 775-688-BEAR (2327).