This is the Idaho Valley Seeing a Spike in Bear Encounters

It appears there’s more than one bear.  After Idaho Fish and Game removed a young bear from a populated area in Ketchum, it relocated the animal to a much more remote part of Blaine County. The young animal would normally weigh in at 40 to 45 pounds this time of year before going into hibernation.  This bear clocked in at 60 pounds, having found the forage good in neighborhoods with a lot of food waste.

Then a second call came in from another homeowner.  A second young bear is foraging nearby.

Fish and Game surmises there could even be more.

Why so many?  Because people aren’t securing garbage.  Much of the natural diet for bears was unavailable this last summer in the mountains.  Drought and fire conditions limited the supply of berries.

The animals have come down from the hills and are increasingly wandering the Wood River Valley.

Terry Thompson is a spokesman for Fish and Game.  He told Newsradio 96.1 FM and 1310 KLIX that attacks from black bears are more common than attacks from grizzlies.  Mainly because there are a lot more black bears.  As some people are learning this week.

If a grizzly attacks you, the advice is to play dead.  If the smaller black bear attacks you, the advice is to fight back until you can escape.  It’s a much smaller animal.

I’ll add one more comment.  Last week I toured some new housing developments near Sun Valley.  A lot of homes are under construction.  It probably spells more wildlife encounters.

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