As they do each spring, the bears of the Jap Sierra Nevada at the moment are clawing their manner out of dens after their five-month-long winter naps, tearing by layers of ice and snow with little air to breathe and no water to drink.
They will’t afford to cease as a result of they haven’t eaten since late October, once they entered their dens for the brutal Sierra winter, normally by burrowing into north-facing slopes. Some had cubs in tow; others gave beginning within the midst of hibernation.
This 12 months, although, they emerge to face an unprecedented accumulation of snow. This has been a monstrous winter for my hometown, Mammoth Lakes. The snow-globe vistas and epic snowboarding have delighted many. However the historic snowfall is about to take a toll on the long-lasting black bears of the Jap Sierra.
Not solely did we get way more snow than traditional, however the spring thaw is 2 months not on time. Three-story cabins are nonetheless buried beneath document snowdrifts. And with roads walled in, there’s nowhere for animals even to stroll aside from the busy streets on the town.
Most unsettling is the famine they face. The tender, translucent shoots of weeds and grass which might be their post-winter caviar are nowhere to be discovered. The meals lies dormant beneath layers of snow.
What’s a younger mom with two cubs to do? Most mother and father would do something to feed their kids, and so will she.
And what about the remainder of the area’s wildlife — the bobcats, the mountain lions and that lone coyote that has been sitting lengthy days outdoors the native Carl’s Jr.? With no voles or mice to eat, he has resorted to begging for fries.
Throughout my long term as Mammoth Lakes’ wildlife officer, meals was on the forefront of my efforts to assist the city’s people and animals coexist. Mammoth has lengthy prided itself on an enlightened strategy to wildlife, accepting it as a part of our each day lives. For 3 many years, it was a part of my job to maintain the bears out of hurt’s manner by holding them out of lodge lobbies, schoolyards, cabins and automobiles. Largely, we succeeded.
Over time, I turned referred to as the city’s “Bear Whisperer.” I even crawled into their dens to check them, putting microphones and cameras inside whereas they slept. However the city’s residents deserve as a lot credit score as I do for the progress we made.
Once I started the job, eating places dumped leftovers in unlocked dumpsters every night time, and bears and different animals fed freely, resulting in overpopulation and uncomfortable encounters with people. Over time, we had been capable of lock down the dumpsters and drive the animals to feed on seeds, bugs, grubs, grasses and all the opposite pure meals that hold them wholesome and match.
Our mantra, which might nonetheless be seen on bumper stickers across the state, turned: “Don’t Feed Our Bears.”
However now, with no pure meals out there, what ought to the bears and different animals eat? Ought to the state step in and supply meals? Ought to owners?
I confronted that query the opposite day at my very own doorstep, the place a hungry raccoon confirmed up. The masked-bandit backside feeders of the forest are notoriously adept at discovering all the things from grubs beneath your sod to rooster in your tent. However this one had been decreased to an instance of the plight of our ravenous wildlife, going door to door for a can of cat meals or different handout.
Whereas it could really feel humane to oblige, I might strongly discourage such a present even now, and state officers additionally eschew such interventions as a matter of coverage. Feeding wildlife can solely encourage animals to return to human sources time and again over the long run, even after pure meals turn out to be out there. (It’s additionally unlawful.)
Not that I welcome what we’re about to witness. The approaching compressed summer time will probably be actually arduous on the animals, and the following 5 weeks will probably be important.
An inflow of bears is inevitable in cities and exurbs on the sting of the wilderness, which they are going to see as their honeypots, rising the form of run-ins with people that don’t normally profit both species. Extra peril awaits wildlife munching on the primary shoots of spring in one of many few locations they’ll discover them — alongside roadsides subsequent to dashing automobiles.
Can the bears fatten up sufficient by October to outlive subsequent winter? This can be a second when solely the savviest bears survive, and in the long term the species might get stronger in consequence. The bears should adapt. Will we?
It’s been a terrific 12 months for us in essential respects. All this water is a blessing. However for the bears, it comes with a heavy value.
Steve Searles served as Mammoth Lakes’ wildlife officer from 1996 to 2020. A e book on his life with nature, “What the Bears Know,” is predicted to be printed in October.
