People move to the mountains to be closer to nature. But not this close. At least two candy stores have been burglarised this summer by ravenous,drought-starved bears. They are being struck by cars as they roam dark highways,far from their normal foraging grounds. Growing numbers are invading campsites and kitchens in search of food. One even tried to storm a hotel bar in Colorado. In addition to destroying crops,this summers record-breaking drought has also killed off the wild acorns,berries and grasses that sustain animals like mule deer,elk and bears. Without that food,the great outdoors is pushing its way inside,looking for calories wherever they can be found. Elk and mule deer are stealing into farmers corn and alfalfa fields more aggressively than usual,wildlife officials say. Bears have been spotted lumbering through alleys,raiding garbage cans and scooting into peoples homes through open windows and unlocked kitchen doors. My God,theyre everywhere, said Sheriff Bill Masters of San Miguel County,in the mountains of southwest Colorado. Similar stories abound,from ranches in Montana to tourist towns in New Yorks Catskills,to the Appalachians in Kentucky. With their natural food sources ruined,animals are descending from mountains,desperate to eat whatever they can find before the winter freeze comes. In Utah,officials are hoping to cull part of the states elk herd this fall to prevent wintertime competition over the shrunken patches of grasses. They have issued an additional 1,450 hunting tags for female elk,in the hopes that smaller herds of elk,which are relatively hardy,would enable more of the deer to survive. Its kind of an emergency, said Lowell Marthe,a state wildlife biologist. If theres not enough food on those winter ranges,were looking at potential for heavy die-offs in our deer. Bears are even more visible. One wandered through a farmers market in downtown Aspen,Colorado,this summer. Others have broken into cars after sniffing out fast-food leftovers,or ransacked peoples kitchens. One woman in Eagle,Colorado,told ABC News that her home had been bear-burgled five times. The rash of drought-related bear encounters is part of a long trend of increasing run-ins between humans and wildlife. States passed more restrictive hunting regulations and natural predators dwindled at the same time that homeowners built deeper and deeper into the forests,their homes climbing from valley floors to elevations where mountain berries ripen and animals like bears find their food. With autumn approaching,the run-ins are growing more common as the bears race to find the 20,000 daily calories they need for hibernation. Local residents sometimes protest the states two strikes policy for bears that wander into civilisation (first encounter,its tranquilised,tagged and released; second time,its bear meat) but wildlife officials say they have few other options. One evening last month,Peter DePrez was working the door of a bar in Telluride when he noticed the biggest dog I'd ever seen in my life. Just after he realised it was a 400-pound black bear,the animal made a run at the door. DePrez slammed the door and began yelling to shoo the bear away from the bar. The bear complied,he said,and wandered towards another saloon at the other end of town.
