In Tahoe, please don't spank the bears

In this file photo, a black bear takes a drink from a plastic soda bottle after trash was left out for pick-up near South Lake Tahoe. In this file photo, a black bear takes a drink from a plastic soda bottle after trash was left out for pick-up near South Lake Tahoe. Photo: Chad Lundquist Photo: Chad Lundquist Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close In Tahoe, please don't spank the bears 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

The bear stories that have emerged from Tahoe since the fall have defied logic.

Until last week, that is.

At Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, some students unaccustomed to bears have made it a game on campus to "spank" the animals with a pat on the butt, another game to "pet" one. One student resorted to feeding a bear an apple after deciding it was a bad idea to spank him, according to a November report in the student newspaper.

In one case, a bear social- ized to humans opened the window of a dorm room, climbed in and rummaged through the student's mini-fridge.

Another student, a sophomore who lives in a house near the campus, said a bear broke into her home four times, ate everything and trashed the sofa.

In October alone near Incline, Nevada wildlife officials caught 14 bears, transported them into national forest lands and released them. Other bears branded as dangerous have been shot and killed.

In response, some Tahoe residents on both sides of the state line have damaged traps, harassed game wardens and staked out the traps to keep the bears out of them.

Last week, Ron Stiller, an Incline resident, said he would start a new crusade called Bear Smart Tahoe.

The citizen group probably would go door-to-door to make sure that garbage, dog food, birdseed and other attractions are not left outside. That's something nobody is doing.

The group plans to emphasize minimizing contact to keep bears wild, not socialized.

In several high Sierra wilderness areas, backpackers are required to use bear-proof food canisters. It largely stopped food-raiding by bears at wilderness campsites.

In many areas around Tahoe, the bears work daily routes from home to home until they find something. The hope is to break that chain.

The bears have no fear of people. Game wardens thus have two choices: to trap the bears and move them, or shoot and kill them. That leaves it up to the public to do the Bear Smart Tahoe thing.

To see the original report in the Sierra Nevada College Eagle's Eye, click here.