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WASATCH COUNTY -- More bears seem to be making house calls this season.
Residents in Wasatch County say a young bear is roaming around their neighborhood and getting too close to homes. The Division of Wildlife Resources says this is the time of year that yearlings are wandering out on their own after mama bear kicks them out of the den.
If this continues up there, people are going to get hurt.
–Steve Drew, Wasatch County resident
Also, with so much snow in higher elevations, the young bears are drawn to lower areas for food.
On July 6, Steve Drew snapped photos of a curious little bear on his property. "The little cub tried to get into my house a couple of times," Drew said. "The little bear probably hung out here for about 45 minutes the first day."
The young animal spent time sniffing through his trash and hanging out on the deck.
Drew lives in the Timber Lakes Estates, a gated, private community about seven miles east of Heber City. He says some residents may be been feeding the bear, to his dismay.
"If this continues up there, people are going to get hurt," Drew said.
Related:
Hobble Creek Canyon cubs captured
A couple of curious bear cubs poking around campsites and cabins in Hobble Creek Canyon have been captured.The Division of Wildlife Resources says the bear is likely a yearling and doesn't appear to be aggressive. But the bear's quest for food has taken it to the site of a nearby girls' church camp.
Drew says it's come around his place several times in the past week. "These bears have a routine," he said. "They just come in every morning between 6:30 and 6:45. They're just looking for food. They're starving animals."
This isn't the first time this summer people have come face to face with young bears. In June, bear sightings had campers at Hobble Creek Canyon on edge.
It took several days, but the DWR trapped the two yearlings. They were released back into the wild, up Spanish Fork Canyon.
That's what Drew hopes will happen to the bear coming around his home too. "This is a beautiful area up here, and I chose to live here, and I just want to feel safe when I walk out to my car every day," he said.
The DWR set a trap at the site of the church camp in the area. Though the animal is cute, wildlife officials say don't feed the bear. If it gets used to the area as a food source, it could get aggressive trying to protect it.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
