Jeff DeLong

jdelong@rgj.com

70 conflict bears have been %22handled%22 by the Department of Wildlife so far this year

That includes 29 at Lake Tahoe communities such as Stateline and Incline Village

40 were handled near lower-elevation neighborhoods%2C including 14 in Reno and nine in Carson City

There was one report of a bear being seen in Spanish Springs

Bill Oriel thinks about it just about every time he walks outside.

After all, over the past couple weeks the west Reno resident has seen more bears wandering on his property than at any other time over the 38 years he's lived there. Two were recently captured by wildlife officials in his yard.

He's not particularly concerned, but admits the situation can be a little unnerving.

"I have to worry about the bears every time I go out," said Oriel, 68. "This is the most we've ever seen. They've been here before but not like this year."

Indeed, during this most active time for bears as they prepare for winter hibernation by gorging on just about anything they can get their paws on, 2014 is going down as the second busiest on record when it comes to black bear activity and problems between the animals and their human neighbors in the Reno-Tahoe area.

Numbers are still being crunched but the Nevada Department of Wildlife received "well over" 500 complaints regarding bears this year, said Carl Lackey, bear biologist for the department. While that's well short of the record 1,500 complaints received during the epic year for bear problems experienced in 2007, it should go down as No. 2, Lackey said.

"It was busy and it's not over yet," Lackey said. "It's definitely way above average."

Drought to blame

This year, like in 2007, drought is largely to blame. Dry conditions in the mountains during this third straight year of drought have greatly diminished the supply of berries, grasses and other natural foods normally consumed by bears in the woods. That forces sometimes aggressive bears to turn to human-related food sources by raiding trash containers or breaking into homes.

And this year, it's driven many bears into lower-elevation areas looking for grub. A big attractant has been a bumper crop of fruit growing on trees in the foothills, Lackey said. Urban ponds, coy ponds and other water sources in the city environment attract bears in search of scarce water. They also follow the Truckee River, which "brings them right to downtown Reno," Lackey said.

"They're coming down to look elsewhere, which typically means our back yards," Lackey said.

Of 70 conflict bears "handled" by the Department of Wildlife so far this year – a term describing everything from capturing problem bears in culvert traps to euthanizing those deemed dangerous to picking up others killed by cars on the road – many were encountered away from the high-mountain environment the animals are most commonly found.

Here's where the bears have been found

• 29 at Lake Tahoe communities such as Stateline and Incline Village

• 40 were handled near lower-elevation neighborhoods, including 14 in Reno, nine in Carson City and five in Minden-Gardnerville.

• There was even one report of a bear being seen in Spanish Springs, far from the mountains.

"It's unusual but it is typical for a drought year. That's why we're seeing them all down here," Lackey said.

Coming to Reno

Changes came to Marlene Nelson's attention the night of Oct. 26 when her dog started barking outside the Arlington Avenue home the Reno woman has lived in her entire life. She got the feeling there was "something big" nearby, grabbed her dog and went back inside.

The next day a neighbor told her he had seen a big bear up a tree in her yard.

"I thought it was pretty strange we had a bear on Arlington Avenue," said Nelson, 77. "We've had raccoons and porcupines and all kinds of stuff but never a bear. I've lived here all my life and never had a bear."

At Oriel's home on Ambrose Circle off west Mayberry Drive, it's been bear central lately. Oriel has picked the fruit off the one small apple tree in his yard but he said his neighborhood is thick with apple trees and much of the fruit is readily available to hungry bears.

And there's some tall redwood trees in his yard that bears appear to love climbing to hang out at an elevated vantage point.

"I've seen eight different bears and that's just in the last week and a half," Oriel said recently. "They were making a home out of the back yard."

One late October afternoon, they put on a real show. A mother bear and two cubs had spent the day up a redwood – much to the interest of a lawn crew that went about normal duties on the ground. At around dusk, Oriel watched the bears climb down the tree to his yard.

"Momma came down slowly, looked around and just laid back and the cubs started nursing," Oriel recalls. "I was flabbergasted. It was a surprise they felt so comfortable to do that."

It was a memorable moment with nature, but Oriel said he's ready for the bears to return to the woods.

"There's been a lot of bears and I hope they go on their merry way," he said.

Black bear hunt

Since Sept. 17, 10 black bears have been killed by hunters during the 2014 bear hunting season, Nevada's fourth. Eight were killed in the Pine Nut Mountains, one in the Pine Groves and one in west Washoe Valley. Seven were males and three were females. Every hunt but one involved the use of dogs. In California, hunters have thus far killed 1,017 black bears this year.

Source: Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Nevada black bear deaths, 1997-2013

Hit by car: 170.

Killed for public safety: 103.

Killed for livestock depredation: 34.

Killed in sport hunt: 39.

Illegally killed: 6.

Undetermined: 48.

Total: 400.

Source: Nevada Department of Wildlife.