The Three Bears : ‘Panhandlers’ Returned to the Wild for the Last Time

After feasting on abalone steaks, a parrot, about a dozen chickens, several pounds of dog food and assorted leftovers from trash cans, a family of California black bears was trapped this week for the second time in a month.

The bear trio, initially captured along the northeastern border of Ventura County, was released into the wilderness again Friday.

“This is their last chance,” said Morgan Bouke, wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, shortly before the bears were released in the western Sierra in Tulare County.

If the bears return to an urban area, they will be put to sleep, state officials warn.

Momma bear and her two cubs began their feeding spree five weeks ago when they descended from their Santa Monica Mountains habitat to nearby Frazier Park, dropping in at several homes.

The bears helped themselves to the parrot, the abalone steaks and some chickens, only to be captured and released in the Santa Barbara Mountains, Bouke said.

But the new surroundings apparently did not suit the bear family. By now accustomed to human food, they traveled about two weeks over 20 miles of rugged terrain before visiting Montecito residents.

They were seen near homes on Romero Canyon Drive and Bella Vista Drive in Montecito between Saturday and Thursday, when they were captured for the second time. Wildlife officials recognized the animals immediately because the adult female had been tagged on the ear in Frazier Park, Bouke said.

In the end, their appetite did them in. The bears were trapped when they took the bait in a culvert trap set outside the home of Robert and Dorothy Louis on Bella Vista Drive.

That was the bears’ fourth incursion onto the Louis’ property in six days. Before it was all over, the animals had torn down a screen wall from an indoor patio, rummaged through bags of garbage and chowed down an undetermined amount of bird feed.

“I was ready to go out to feed the birds when the bears ripped through the screens. We took one look at each other, and the bears decided to leave,” Robert Louis said, recalling his first encounter.

Carolee Krieger of nearby Romero Canyon Drive also experienced a close encounter when the momma bear stepped into her bedroom early Sunday morning.

Krieger woke up as the adult bear came in through a half-open screen door with her cubs close behind. The trio had climbed onto a deck about 10 feet off sloped ground to reach the entrance.

“I knew I couldn’t show the bear any fear so I got angry and started screaming, ‘Go away!’ ” she said, pointing to the claw scratches the bears left on her balcony.

Her two dogs sleeping under the bed woke up and started barking. Her husband, David, also woke up but remained silent, she said. The bear turned around, gathered her cubs and left quietly, with the dogs giving chase at a safe distance, Krieger said.

“I never felt threatened,” she said. “But as much as I love animals, I never want to see a bear in my bedroom again.”

Other Montecito residents reported the bears crossing the street in broad daylight, attacking a chicken coop and devouring 50 pounds of dog food in one night, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s officials said.

“These bears are like panhandlers,” Deputy Tim Gracey said. “Once they find a good spot, they don’t want to leave.”

Friday morning, the bears were taken by truck to the Fillmore trout hatchery by Fish and Game officials, where they were served rainbow trout for lunch. They remained locked up in a small ring barrel trap until their release.

Despite being trapped, shot at with a tranquilizer dart gun, put in a cage and blinded by the flashes of photographers and television cameras, it is unlikely that the momma bear and her 6-month-old cubs are now afraid to go near humans, Bouke said.

“They’ve had too much positive reinforcement already. They will cause more damage if they have another chance,” she said. And if they do come across people again, the mother will charge if she feels her cubs are threatened, she said.

But Bouke, after staying up all night to trap the bears, refused to place any blame on the animals.

“People are the problem. Developers encroaching on wildlife. Residents leaving doors open. People leaving pets or pet food outside overnight. People not fencing their gardens.

“All of this attracts wildlife,” she said.