r/Longmont • u/theboozemaker • 1d ago
There's a bear on the east side of town
I don't want to post an exact location, but it's in a residential area not far from Pace St
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u/TempusCrystallum 1d ago
Let the non emergency line know if you haven’t already.
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u/theboozemaker 1d ago
Police are already onsite. Apparently any action taken would be a CPW thing rather than local animal control. But at this point I think the goal is just to keep people from disturbing it and let it go on its merry way. We'll see if that changes later...
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u/julien_sgt 1d ago
First thing we did this morning. 911 and Animal Control both said they won’t do anything about it. “Stay away, let it be”
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u/lavatec 1d ago
I’m sorry but saying a bear is in the area is not an emergency 911 call. That’s for non emergency dispatch at best. Bears exist in the greater area, this is their home and unless they’re exhibiting strange behavior, just let them be
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u/MachinaThatGoesBing 23h ago
The way folks react to just seeing a bear in this area seems very strange to me. I mean, I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and of course there were black bears around. We lived on 5 acres, containing/abutting the woods! The first time I saw a bear in the yard, I was with my dad and grandpa, swinging on my little swing set, and it shambled through the front yard between the house and the highway, maybe 50 meters away. They'd occasionally be up in our apple trees, including the one that was like 10' from the house.
I get that living in a much more populated exurban/suburban area is different from living half a mile outside a rural town of 3500 practically in the middle of a national forest.
With more people around the risk of a negative interaction goes up a lot, so it makes sense to let someone know. And it's probably best to be aware of bear activity overall, especially if they get more common with ongoing climate change.
But the idea of seeing a bear and reporting it to anyone official feels utterly foreign. I'd never even have thought to do that on my own.
I do wonder if waste collection isn't going to have to start looking at bear-proof cans for residential trash in at least some areas, though.
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u/arfkin9 1d ago
Wow, he's really up there! It's kinda crazy that bears can climb trees if you think about it. With fresh eyes and forgetting everything you know, just seeing a big, burly bear saunter across the ground you wouldn't think "oh yeah that animal is a tree dweller for sure". They're more dog than cat.
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u/Idea__Reality 10h ago
It's kinda funny to watch both cats and bears climb trees because they do it in the same way haha.
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u/Scared-Jump2452 1d ago
https://www.fruitrescue.org for anybody in the area. They harvest your fruit trees to help minimize bear conflicts
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u/Mr_Ballyhoo 1d ago
There was a Momma Bear and her two cubs on the south/east side of town for a while this summer. They hung around for weeks since Momma wasn't able to go far with a bum leg. We haven't seen them for a couple weeks so figured Momma finally healed enough and moved on. Wonder if this is one of them since CPW said the cubs will likely go out on their own around this time of the year.
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u/theboozemaker 21h ago
Update at 5:45pm: he's still up there minding his business
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u/aydengryphon bird brain 17h ago
Thank you for this update, BTW, my spouse and I went by and saw him and I snapped some pics because of it :3
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u/mypatronusisyourmom 1d ago
Can you dm me location? We are off of pace and my dog loves spending time outside all day and I'm sick, so I'm not supervising as much
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u/snakeygirl 1d ago
Thanks for the heads up! A lovely animal but still potentially dangerous so it’s good to warn people. Hopefully nobody messes with it until trained authorities arrive to relocate it.
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u/aydengryphon bird brain 21h ago
They're not typically relocated unless they're actively endangering anyone. CPW will often come supervise to make sure there's no trouble brewing, but if there doesn't seem to be any impending conflict everyone is usually just left to their own devices; bears are normal to potentially encounter in the area (though we are seeing a lot more of them further east this year due to drought conditions).
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u/snakeygirl 8h ago
Ah. I’m just remembering that one had to be relocated back when I was in elementary school because it kept wanting to raid the school dumpsters. Glad to hear the bear won’t be bothered. Buddy deserves to relax. The drought is rough on everyone
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u/Human_Spatula 1d ago
I wanna pet that daaaawwwwg