It is time to bearify your property, to stay ahead of habituating our bear neighbors to human related food. Per Kristin Cannon, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Manager, “it is best to get out in front of any bear conflict issues so that the problem is not allowed to progress to the point where we have to make tough decisions about a bear.” We all recall hearing of bears that have been killed due to entering homes in mountain communities. These bears have become emboldened and habituated to human related food rewards. The consequence to them is often euthanasia. Kristin expects “bears to be in and around Gold hill all summer long. The bears have been out for a few months and are likely foraging on the green vegetation and any grubs and insects they can find. As the summer progresses and the vegetation dries up we will likely see more conflicts with bears and everyone will have to become as diligent as ever about reducing access to human related food sources, especially after such a dry winter.”