As usual, bear problems common

COEUR d'ALENE - Every year around this time, conflicts between humans and black bears become very common.

"This is an ongoing, every day, all spring and summer thing," said Craig Walker, an Idaho Fish and Game regional conservation officer.

In the Sandpoint and Priest River areas, IDFG officers are responding to bear calls on a daily basis. Some bears have already been trapped this season, while others have been shot by property owners.

In 2010, Walker said, IDFG responded to 800 bear calls in Bonner County alone. The berry crop was particularly bad last year, however, which likely contributed to the high number of bear incidents.

There seem to be slightly fewer calls this year, Walker said, but for the most part, the bear situation is no different from usual.

IDFG urged property owners to store their garbage, bird feeders, pet food and other food sources in places bears cannot reach. Once a bear gets hooked on a human food source, it becomes a problem bear, the department said.

Unnatural feeding habits and habituation to humans often leads to the removal and/or death of these animals.

Local garbage services should use bear-proof Dumpsters or install metal lids on their Dumpsters, IDFG added. Dump sites that allow bears to feed freely create problems and possibly aggressive bears.

"Occasionally, you have a bear that's habituated to garbage. That kind of bear we have to deal with."

A few bruins have been hanging around Dumpsters near Powder Horn Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Walker said.

In the past, bear trouble was common at Dumpster sites near the city of Coeur d'Alene, but the switch to manned garbage facilities - and fewer Dumpster sites overall - has helped decrease the number of incidents, Walker said.

Soon, the serviceberries and huckleberries will ripen, which should mitigate most of the bear issues, he added.

But residents who live on the edge of forested areas should still be wary.

"The people that run into them are the ones that live, say, at the base of Canfield, where they're butted up against bear country," Walker said.