Bear spotted this morning near Urban Park. Photo by Jim NesmithBy JIM NESMITH
Los Alamos
For the past couple of weeks, a mama bear and her two cubs have been dumpster diving all of the trash cans near Urban Park, 41st Street in particular. They usually limit their carousing to the wee hours of the morning but there have been two incidents in the last week where they were still in the neighborhood when it became light.
This morning, a little after 9 a.m., I received a call from my daughter that the two cubs were in a tree next to our house. She couldn’t see the mama bear. I drove over there and found the mama bear to be in the tree as well, just sort of hanging out:
A bear hanging out in a tree this morning near Urban Park. Photo by Jim Nesmith
My daughter called the police and the animal control officer came over after a short while. He said they would come down and leave eventually.
At noon, I drove back by the house, and the bears were still up in the tree. I again called the police and they said they would send someone out. I decided to wait there in my car until their arrival. About 10 minutes later, mama bear came down followed by her two cubs. Very soon thereafter, two young boys came out of a house across the street and started walking past the bears. I pulled up next to them and told them to go back inside but they ignored me and kept walking. I’m not sure they spoke English. Mama bear was watching them very closely.
They boys got to safety and I continued waiting. Mama bear appeared to be unsure what to do. She was standing on her hind legs looking all around while her youngsters cavorted about. After another10 minutes or so, she ambled off to the south, followed by her cubs.
The animal control officer eventually showed up. He agreed with me that the situation was extremely dangerous and said he had notified both his supervisor and the State Game and Fish Department, neither of whom were at all concerned. They simply said the bears would eventually leave.
I’m stunned by the cavalier attitude of these officials. It should not need to be spelled out that a mama bear with two cubs IS REALLY DANGEROUS. I ask the County Council and County Manager Harry Burgess to please bring pressure to bear (no pun intended … well, maybe) on those individuals who have the authority and means to relocate these WILD and dangerous animals.
