A Ring camera captured video of this bear checking out the grapes at a home north of Genoa early on Oct. 20.
While there is as yet no confirmation of wolves in Hope Valley, there is definitely at least one bear in Genoa.
A bear was foraging for fruit Nevada’s Oldest Town around 2 a.m. Oct. 20, a reminder that it’s time for them to start putting away the calories in preparation for hibernation and for residents to secure their trash.
The usual locations for bear conflicts in Douglas County have been in the Lake Tahoe Basin, but bears have been sighted in Carson Valley.
Many of those conflicts involve bears getting into people’s garbage.
“Black bears are experiencing hyperphagia, or a state where they are consuming 20,000-24,000 calories a day in efforts to build fat reserves so they can survive the winter months,” said Nevada Department of Wildlife spokeswoman Jamie Roice-Gomes. “The easiest and quickest way to acquire these calorie needs is to consume human foods from unsecured garbage containers.”
While there aren’t substantially fewer bears in the mountains, the number being hit by vehicles has gone down significantly over the last three years.
Roice-Gomes said there have been 17 so far this year. That’s on track to be far fewer than the 46 bears killed during 2021.
The California Department of Fish & Game is trying to confirm the sighting of four wolves in early October.
The Department put in game cameras and howling devices to try and detect any wolves in the area.
“There was no DNA confirmation,” Alpine spokesman JT Chevallier said. “They were trying to find wolf scat and hair.”
That effort is still underway, Chevallier said on Tuesday.
Here are some tips to reduce human-bear conflicts:
· Secure your trash and use a bear-resistant garbage container. Washoe and Carson residents can contact Waste Management for a container and Douglas County residents can contact Douglas Disposal & Recycling Services
· Remove attractants from your yard including bird feeders, pet food, trash and all other food or scented items
· Keep barbeque grills clean and stored in a garage or shed when not in use
· Keep doors and windows closed and locked when the home is unoccupied
· Never feed or approach bears
