WATERBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – Bear-human conflicts in Vermont have increased as the state\u2019s bear population grows and more visitors arrive, according to wildlife officials. <\/p>\n
The signs at Little River State Park in Waterbury make clear visitors are in bear country. <\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past few years, this park has sustained activity with bears in the area,\u201d Game Warden Jeremy Schmid said.<\/p>\n
Schmid points to proactive steps taken at the park to reduce conflicts, including reinforced metal dumpsters. \u201cThese dumpsters are all reinforced metal with locking mechanisms on the top and on the side, manipulated by secure latches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Despite those efforts, Schmid said his summer days are filled with bear calls. \u201cWe seem to be going to more high profile cases and incidents right now as wardens, other than the typical bear getting into a garbage container,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said those high-profile cases involve more intense bear-human conflicts. \u201cThe generation of bears that we\u2019re seeing now are ones that have grown up and taught how to gain easy food sources, so we\u2019re dealing with bears that are going into homes, vehicles and getting into trash instead of their natural habitat foraging for food like they\u2019re supposed to,\u201d Schmid said.<\/p>\n
Bears breaking into buildings or cars used to be rare. Now, Fish and Wildlife black bear biologist Jacqueline Comeau says it\u2019s a weekly occurrence. \u201cTen to five years ago, we might only get one to five of those a year that we would hear about … Now we\u2019ve had some weeks this summer where we\u2019re getting three to five in a week … In the past, we didn\u2019t even really track because it was just a handful of cases throughout the year and not in every town,\u201d Comeau said.<\/p>\n
Comeau said bears are found across the state, not just in rural areas. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get that message out so everyone is aware, unless you\u2019re in Lake Champlain, Vermont is bear country and there\u2019s a good chance you could encounter a bear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Schmid said many of the calls wardens respond to are avoidable. \u201cCalls we are responding to are avoidable if we as humans take additional steps to lock our vehicles, lock our houses, secure our windows, secure our trash, lock our trash or put it out at the last minute. If humans take that extra step it could mitigate most of these problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n