Two bears cruising cars at the Aspen Business Center and in nearby neighborhoods have been wreaking havoc on unlocked vehicles. And it’s not yet cold enough for them to give up the goodies and head into hibernation.

The bears have been rewarded with food often enough after breaking into a car that they won’t hesitate to try to break in whether they smell food or not, said ReRe Baker, Pitkin County’s animal safety director.

Courtesy Aspen Times A cinnamon-colored bear that has been making its presence known in the Aspen Business Center area attempts to open a car door with its mouth earlier this month in the parking lot of Aspen Crossfit at the ABC.

Courtesy Aspen Times The bear successfully opens the door and prepares to enter the vehicle in search of food.



“People need to have no food products in their cars and lock the doors. They will get into your vehicle every chance they get,” she said. “One day, (a sheriff’s deputy) watched (one of the bears) try and get into eight cars,” Baker said.

Bears have been a problem for local and state wildlife and law enforcement officers this year because a lack of food in the mountains has drawn them to human-related sources of food in populated areas.

Since Oct. 1, city police have received 77 bear-related calls, said Cathleen Treacy, Aspen police records custodian. The bears likely will be around until temperatures drop further and snow begins to accumulate, a state wildlife official has said.

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