Twenty chicken sandwiches, 10 large orders of french fries, 10 soft drinks and 10 milkshakes. That’s the approximate fast food order needed to total 20,000 calories, the amount Colorado Parks and Wildlife says a hungry black bear needs to consume every single day as they pack on the pounds to build up their fat reserves to survive winter hibernation.
While Coloradans are enjoying the sights and sounds of autumn, bears are reaching the peak of hyperphagia, an instinctive metabolic response to the changing seasons. Hyperphagia triggers a “feeding frenzy” to gain much-needed fat storage to help ensure winter survival. Bears will continue their intense search for food for up to 20 hours per day through mid-December, or when natural food sources are no longer available. As colder autumn weather brings frost and freezing to the state and natural food sources begin declining, bears may look to humans for easily accessible meals.
“Since early April, our staff has received nearly 5,000 bear incident report calls, and over half of those have been about bears finding food sources,” said CPW Interpretation and Wildlife Viewing Coordinator Mary McCormac. “If given a choice between foraging for food for 20 hours or getting all the calories needed from a few dumpsters in one alley, which would you choose? Bears are extremely smart and will try to get as many calories as quickly and as easily as they can before denning for the winter. That really puts it on us as humans to be responsible with our property, especially our trash.”
With the need to quickly build fat reserves, bears will seek out food sources that provide a higher caloric intake such as fallen fruit, nuts and especially the types of meals found in your trash can or bird feeders. Giving bears easy access to food allows them to become overly comfortable in populated areas. This often leads to bears becoming more aggressive and increases the possibility of a dangerous human-bear conflict.
“This time of year, CPW fields dozens of calls each day regarding bears turning over trash cans, entering homes and showing little to no fear of people when looking for food,” said McCormac. “The only reason we get so many of these calls is that people are being careless; not locking their doors, not securing their trash, keeping bird feeders out and generally not being careful when they know bears are looking for an easy meal. Living responsibly with bears is everyone’s responsibility.”
Bearproofing homes, cars and other personal property not only helps keep people safe, but it can also prevent conflicts and even the needless death of a bear.
Jeff
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