String of bear break-ins in El Paso County
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Wildlife officials are keeping a close eye on one specific neighborhood just west of Fort Carson. There's a bear in the area that keeps coming back for more. It is damaging homes and property in an aggressive search for food.
Carol Rice has replaced her garage door twice in just over a week. It’s all because of one hungry bear. In KRDO13's exclusive interview the bear made a surprise guest appearance.
The bear tore down Rice's bird feeder, ate a quick snack and took off. Rice has been in a longstanding battle with this black bear that’s taken a particular liking to her home.
It started by dragging her barbecue away. Then weeks later the bear broke through her glass garage door window. Rice says the bear rummaged through some trash and took bird suet for the road.
After this encounter, Rice prepared by cleaning out the garage and removing the food. This did not deter the bear.
"Even the second time, there was no food. I even cleaned the floor where the trash was," said Rice.
Bird food surrounding the house is also on the bear's menu.
"If you don’t take the bird feeders down the bears will do it for you. Humming bird feeders, same thing," said Corey Adler, District Wildlife Manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Colorado Springs.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife say the further we get in to August the more bears will be looking for that extra meal, so they say it’s best to take precautions now. Some precautions they recommend include cleaning your grill, cleaning out your car and keeping your trash inside.
In the meantime, Rice hopes keeping the food around will help catch the bear. CPW brought her a bear trap to keep on her property.
CPW did confirm that it's been the same bear causing all these problems. We asked CPW what they would do if they catch the bear. They couldn't give us a definitive answer but said that euthanasia is a possibility.
