Warm Weather Has Lake Tahoe Bears Coming Out Of Hibernation Early
LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) — The ongoing drought and early warm weather is causing confusion for bears who are coming out of hibernation early.
It's another problem to blame on the drought. Snow should be piled high, but for the second year in a row, it feels like spring in the winter.
Ann Bryant protects the bears of Lake Tahoe. She founded the Bear League and wants people to learn to stand their ground with them, too, instead of killing them.
"They're actually huge, big bunny rabbits," she said.
She brought CBS13 cameras out into the woods to see something she says we needed to see with our own eyes.
"They're all coming out now. We're getting reports everyday," she said.
The bears are coming out of hibernation early because it's too warm out. The problem is, there are no berries or grass for the massive mammals to feed on yet.
Instead, the bears head for homes. A pack of three knocked on Herbert Pierce's front door early one morning. Luckily his dog barked loud enough and scared them away.
"They were like a gang and thus just kind of went down and broke in house after house after house," he said.
But neighbors now have electric fences and doormats.
"They can usually sense with their nose whether there's electricity in the wire," he said.
With the dry weather here to stay, it's unclear when the bears will return to their dens. Typically it's in November, but it's up to a fickle Mother Nature.
