A California town is preparing for an invasion of hungry black bears

With a sense of smell 100 times greater than that of humans, the predators smashed windows, tore off roof tiles and ripped solid wood doors off their hinges to get at the leftover pizza in the fridge.

They also defecate on tables, furniture and floors as a “calling card,” officials say.

In an area of ​​Southern California that wildlife authorities call a human-black bear conflict zone, the imminent arrival of spring in this small mountain village is met with dread and fear as the hungry giants emerge from their winter hibernation to hunt for food.

“Bears are a big problem here — and it's getting worse,” said Patrice Stimpson, patrol president of the Pine Mountain Club, a community of about 2,800 residents in the San Emigdio Mountains, about 75 miles north of Los Angeles.

“They caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage,” Stimpson said. “Last year, a house caught fire after a bear climbed onto a gas stove and lit the burners. The bears nearly crushed a few cars as they searched for crushed biscuits between the seats.”

An electric fence hangs in front of Pine Mountain Pizza Co. To deter bears from breaking in.

Wildlife authorities across the country have been reporting an increase in human-black bear interactions for decades, and this is especially true in California, where urban growth — combined with severe wildfires and drought — has caused an increase in the number of bears searching for food. In areas controlled by humans.

Although busy tourist areas such as Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes are well known for bear incidents—particularly those in which the animals are struck and killed by vehicles—bears are also reported along the Central Coast and in the Transverse Mountain Ranges of Southern California. Where they have not been seen for 50 years.

At the Pine Mountain Club in Kern County, where annual black bear invasions began in earnest about a decade ago, home and vehicle break-ins are a frequent source of tension, as well as community division. While some residents urge peaceful coexistence with the bears, others want to eradicate them.

A particular point of contention in the conflict was the deliberate feeding of bears. Anger flared at community gatherings, homeowner meetings, and on newspaper pages and social media sites, with some local activists calling for the prosecution of people who feed the bears. (It is illegal to intentionally feed a black bear in California, and penalties may include a fine or imprisonment.)

The number of calls to Stimpson's office for wildlife assistance reached a record high of 563 for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2023. That's up from 319 the previous year. “Ninety-nine percent of those calls were bear-related,” she said.

A bear rummages through a dumpster at the Pine Mountain Club.

(Cody Miller)

The number of people entering homes and sheds also increased. There were 322 entries recorded in 2023, up from 311 the previous year, according to Vicki Kraft, a community activist whose group Los Padres Bear Aware is trying to track them. The group also recorded 179 car burglaries last year.

Earlier this month, three homes were invaded in as many days.

“We have quite a lot of the usual bear population and people continue to feed them,” Kraft said. “If I had the power to do that, I would remove the bears — all of them.”

That kind of talk infuriates James Weinstock, 75, who has made feeding wildlife around his home, including two bears he calls Cinnamon and Blackie, part of his daily routine.

James Weinstock, a resident of the Pine Mountain Club, shown in his dining room, supports feeding bears in the Kern County community.

“I love bears; “They're just big little dogs,” he said. “Dealing with these creatures is the right thing to do. It pleases the Lord.”

But no friendship is completely free of conflict.

Take a time in 2021 where Weinstock said he left the back door to his home open, allowing the bright scent of a fish sandwich on the washing machine to entice a hungry bear into his home.

“This bear was already eating my lunch when I hit him in the head with a baseball bat,” he recalls. “The bear got up and swung me.”

“It removed a lot of skin from my arm,” he added, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt, which hid several scarlet scars on his right arm.

James Weinstock describes the time he was scratched on the arm by a bear that hit him with a bat after he entered his house and began eating his lunch.

However, it is not only residents who suffer property loss and the risk of serious injury. The debilitating injuries bears suffer as they attack dogs in California as they search for food and water in developed areas are often overlooked. Animals often suffer lacerations on their heads, backs and legs from broken glass, or ingest toxic household substances such as laundry detergent, motor oil and carpet cleaner.

In conversations with anyone who will listen, Todd Greisen, General Manager of the Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Assn., continues to say that “it is extremely important to report damage to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The more people report, the more resources “The state assigned to our area. We need help.”

But some people here question this recommendation. That's partly because reports of vacationers at Airbnb and other short-term rentals luring black bears with berries and bacon strips tossed from the rooftops of mountain chalets can hinder lucrative income streams.

“Only a small number of incidents have been reported to us,” said Chris De Tar, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “There are a few reasons for this, including the misconception that if you report a conflict, our department will euthanize the bear.”

Traumatic face-to-face encounters aren't the only impact bears have on daily life.

Killing a bear, legally classified as a mammal, without a depredation permit is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Additionally, firearms and bow and arrow shooting are strictly prohibited within the Pine Mountain Club development.

But several bears have been shot and killed at the Pine Mountain Club without depredation permits over the past decade. Many people have been killed in vehicle collisions.

A window of a city building was damaged after a bear tried to enter the Pine Mountain Club.

In 2014, when at least three bears were shot and killed here, state and federal wildlife authorities investigated reports of illegal bear traps set along neighborhood streets and in the surrounding Los Padres National Forest lands.

In 2022, a $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for shooting a bear with a bow and arrow. Patrol officials said that this animal was found lying on a street in the neighborhood with an arrow sticking out of its back.

Tensions between communities and wild predators have become more common across the West in recent decades, as wildlife conservationists and government agencies call for coexistence with the animals, rather than their extermination.

And at places like the Pine Mountain Club, it's difficult to find a sustainable balance.

Los Padres Bear Aware warns that living with bears here requires special precautions: Keep vehicles locked with no scented items inside, including air freshener. Remove child car seats and wash the car seat frequently. Never store food or scented items in crawl spaces, sheds and garages. Do not leave house and car doors open, as common bears can open them.

Efforts to prevent creepy bear introductions run the gamut.

Some residents say harassment tactics — such as banging pots and pans together, waving arms and yelling “Scream, bear!” Shake!” – It can effectively keep bears away from homes, garages and sheds.

Others recommend placing “unwelcome mats” with half-inch nails sticking out of the fabric in front of doors and windows, and around property boundaries.

Plywood covers the entrance to the building after a bear tried to get inside.

Then there's Ian Sorey, a retired police officer and member of the Pine Mountain Club's volunteer emergency response team, who this month plans to market a homemade security system designed to give intruding bears an uncomfortable electric shock via wires strung across doors and windows.

“The effect is similar to the shock you get from a 9-volt battery, but a little more intense,” said Savery, who is not an electrician. “To prove its safety to potential customers, I use my home as a demo.”

An increase in break-ins has increased concern about public safety, so Stimpson's patrol team sometimes uses paintball guns as a deterrent.

“We shoot bears from behind, which makes them run away,” she said.

Although it is commonly assumed that black bears sleep during hibernation, this is not the case. Instead, they survive the winds and cold of winter by retreating to dens and shelters in a state of torpor, a temporary state of stasis that provides energy when traditional food sources such as berries, acorns and antelope are scarce.

But as development spreads to Southern California's wildlands, black bears can remain active year-round due to the abundance of human food accessible in garbage cans, parks, homes and vehicles. State wildlife authorities say this type of habituation is a particular problem, and officials are still grappling with how to deal with the problem.

“We see hundreds of bear engagements every year in our small community,” Savery said. “Can you imagine the uproar if it were home burglaries instead of bear break-ins?”

James Weinstock prepares to feed blue jays from his front porch.

For residents at Pine Mountain Club, there are already plenty of signs that they are entering what is likely to be a very active bear season.

Recently, Patrol Officer Jeff Fredericks pushed his pickup truck over a carpet of freshly fallen snow into the maintenance yard at the Pine Mountain Club, where he searched for bears.

No predatory eyes answered his gaze, but it was impossible to ignore the disturbing evidence of their recent presence: a torn door, splintered window sills, twisted metal siding, and muddy footprints on the windows of a shed containing a destroyed refrigerator, which had been destroyed. Used to store lunches for employees.

“Bears started hitting this place a lot last summer,” he said. “They're back now, and there's only so much we can do.”