Fall is the time of year when bears In fact They start to think with their stomach.
Some double their weight to prepare for winter hibernation, often seeking calories for up to 20 hours a day. This feeding frenzy, called hyperphagia, pushes them away from their usual home range and away from neighborhood trash cans in search of easy meals.
That instinct led a hungry Nevada black bear to a home in South Lake Tahoe, surprising an 87-year-old man who had entered his garage to look for firewood before dawn Wednesday.
“The man retreated into his house and as he did so, the bear hit him and scratched his hand,” said Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesperson Ashley Zeme. “Then the bear followed him into the house.”
Moments later, the confused bear scratched the homeowner's wife before running away after the couple's granddaughter opened doors and windows to create exits. Both residents were treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries.
Zeme said the incident was a rare escalation but nonetheless illustrates how autumn hyperphagia reshapes bear behavior in the region.
“During hyperphagia, a bear would be more likely to come into a house,” he said, noting that bears seek out a staggering 20,000 to 25,000 calories per day as winter approaches. “In the wild, they try to increase their calories through berries and insects. But when they find garbage in a neighborhood, they have all the calories they need in one place.”
The best way to prevent encounters with bears, he said, is by securing trash and removing attractants such as bird feeders, pet food, coolers and barbecue grills.
Hyperphagia usually occurs from August to November. During this period, bears dramatically expand their search radius, often moving deeper into residential areas. Once a bear finds an easy reward, it tends to return and becomes increasingly bolder, according to wildlife officials. In the Tahoe Basin, where bears have long learned that residents and tourists bring dense, reliable calories, hyperphagia coincides with an increase in reports of trash raids, thefts and, less frequently, incidents like the one that occurred Wednesday.
“Once they get a food reward every time they go to a neighborhood, they will keep coming back for more,” Zeme said. “They have good memories and they are intelligent.”
Zeme emphasized that the bear in this week's case appeared confused and scared, but officials are not ruling out the possibility that it was predatory behavior.
“This is not typical territory for a bear,” he said. “They're not used to being in houses or garages. The bear was probably confused, scared. Who knows what it was. But this wasn't normal.”
Wildlife officials said about 90% of bear-related incidents originate with unsecured trash, so residents in bear-prone areas are recommended to lock up trash and food in wildlife-resistant containers and avoid leaving bags outside. They also advise locals to keep vehicles free of food, lock doors and windows and use electric fences to protect beehives and chicken coops.
“We always see more bearish activity this time of year,” Zeme said. “Securing attractants is the best way to keep them away.”
