Following a pattern of black bears showing up in residential areas this spring, a scrawny-looking cinnamon black bear with a distinct mask-like marking on its face has been hanging around a rural neighborhood near Upton in Weston County.
Residents say that, so far, the bear has been behaving itself — mostly.
It had to be shooed away from garbage cans over the weekend, and it tried hunkering down under someone's front porch before people gathered around and spooked it away.
Otherwise, it’s been timid, well-behaved, and hasn’t threatened any people or pets, resident Katina Spiker told Cowboy State Daily.
“He’s, like, our resident bear,” she said.
Just Showed Up One Day
The neighborhood is about 6 miles outside of Upton in a heavily forested area, Spiker said.
It’s an area frequented by mountain lions and bobcats, she said, adding that, “I’ve had a lot of coyotes out here."
However, she doesn’t recall a bear showing up any time recently.
Wyoming’s black bear population has been doing well, and over the past few years there have been more reports of bears on the state’s eastern side.
Earlier this month, two black bears showed up on the outskirts of Cheyenne. One was trapped by Game and Fish and released in the Snowy Range Mountains west of Laramie.
The other was shot by a licensed hunter with the landowner’s permission on private property north of Cheyenne.
The Upton bear just showed up over the weekend, Spiker said. There’s speculation that it’s a young bear, newly separated from its mother and trying to find its way in the world.
Game and Fish has alerted local residents about the bear’s presence.
Dan Thompson, the agency’s large carnivore specialist, told Cowboy State Daily that judging by a photo of the bear, it appeared to be young and “fairly skinny.”
‘I Think He’s Hungry’
Spiker said she first spotted the bear in her neighbor’s yard on Saturday.
“I pulled up in my Jeep; I was maybe 10 feet from him,” she said. “He was just trying to get into the garbage.”
“We kind of shooed him to get him away from garbage cans and people. I didn’t want anybody to hurt him,” Spiker said.
“I think he’s hungry. He looked really thin. He wasn’t aggressive at all,” she added.
‘None Of Your Business’
Spiker said the bear was easily visible again Sunday, but has since more or less retreated into the nearby forest.
“We have a lot of wild turkeys around here. I think he might be where the turkeys are,” she said.
If so, that would be a good thing, because it could mean that the bear is seeking natural foods, like a meal of fresh turkey, rather than trying to raid garbage cans again.
There’s also a prairie dog colony nearby, and Spiker said that could offer the bear another opportunity to fatten up on fresh, natural food.
After posting photos of the bear on social media, Spiker said she’s received numerous inquiries about the bear, but she doesn’t want to give away too much.
“I’ve had people reach out to me and say, ‘I’ve got a bear license, what’s your address?’ and I tell them, ‘My address is none of your business,’” she said.
For now, coexistence with the bear seems possible, but Spiker said that she and her neighbors aren’t being naïve about it.
They’ve secured their garbage cans and have been keeping a close eye on children and pets, she said.
“I told my 13-year-old nephew to be careful with the bear still out there,” she said. "If he gets really hungry, he might get really angry."
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
