Three black bears charged across a busy California ski slope, as skiers and snowboarders scrambled to get out of the way. It was part of a pattern of wildlife showing up in unexpected places because of mild winter weather, and it’s happening in Wyoming, as well.
The bears, apparently a female with two older cubs, ran across the ski slope on Wednesday at Northstar California Resort, in the Lake Tahoe area, ABC7 News reported.
There was heavy snow that day, but previously, the weather had been unseasonably warm.
California resident Beth Pratt told Cowboy State Daily that this week’s snowstorms were a welcome change in the weather.
“We’ve had, until this storm, an awfully dry winter. In fact, we were getting a little worried, said Pratt,” who lives near Yosemite National Park.
She’s the regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation and worked in Yellowstone National Park from 2008 to 2011.
At lower elevations, such as where she lives, it’s not unheard of to see bears out and about any time of the year.
But bears out on ski slopes at high elevation near Lake Tahoe is unusual, she said.
“It is not something typical for bears to be out like that this time of year, but it’s not unheard of,” Pratt said.
They might have been tempted out of their den by food, before the storm hit, Pratt said.
There are plentiful “human-provided food sources” in the Lake Tahoe area, which is a hotbed of black bear activity, she said.
Were They Rousted From Sleep?
Retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody agreed that mild weather this winter has caused more bear activity.
“I’ve already seen tracks recently out hiking along the Shoshone (River),” he said.
In January, a grizzly was spotted wandering around in northern Yellowstone National Park.
“This year has produced a lot of strange sightings,” Neal said.
As other biologists have noted, bears don’t go into a complete stupor when they hibernate during the winter, Neal told Cowboy State Daily.
“They’re not truly hibernating, they’re just sleeping,” he said.
And so it’s possible that people or other wildlife got too close to the bears’ den near Tahoe and rousted them from their sleep, he said.
“They could have been roused relatively easily” and decided to get up and look for food, Neal said.
Or the bears might have just decided to get up and go on a walkabout, he added.
“Another possibility is that they went to bed really hungry and they couldn’t stay asleep,” he said.
Split Lip Raises A Ruckus In Canada
Bears occasionally take to the ski slopes in Canada, Canadian bear safety expert Kim Titchener told Cowboy State Daily.
But usually not in mid-winter, she added.
“It’s a bit early here for that, but common at the start of the winter ski season, and at the end,” she said.
One of Canada’s favorite grizzlies halted a ski race in December.
A huge male called Split Lip showed up and shut down the race at Lake Louise, Alberta.
Though rare, it’s not unheard of for Split Lip to show up during the winter, Rocky Mountain Outlook reported.
Split Lip is the main rival of Canada’s most famous grizzly, a 700-pound behemoth called The Boss, who rules Banff National Park in Alberta.
Moose And Mountain Lion At White Pine
The Pinedale area has a robust population of bears, but so far, none have shown up on the slopes at White Pine Resort, said Curt Yaney, the ski patrol director there.
“In the summertime, the black bears are up there. I haven’t seen a grizzly up there in the summer yet, but I’ve seen the black bears,” he said.
About “two or three times a year,” the ski patrol gets a call about a moose on the slopes, he said.
When that happens, there’s not much the ski patrol can do, as moose are notoriously tough and stubborn.
“We just have to watch them until they decide to wander off,” Yaney said.
A mountain lion also hangs out around the ski area, but so far has remained unseen, true to its species’ stealthy and secretive nature.
“There is a cat that runs around up there. I’ve never seen him, just his tracks,” Yaney said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
