By Mary O’KEEFE

A post on social media on Sunday showed a bear in a spa at a home on Cloud Avenue in the La Crescenta/Montrose area. The bear, according to reports, enjoyed the water for awhile and then left – presumably back into the mountains. 

It is not known for certain if this was the same bear that made an afternoon visit in mid-June. That bear was seen strolling along Foothill Boulevard and through yards on Mary Ann Street near New York Avenue, just below Foothill. Bears in the foothill communities are not seen to often – but just often enough to remind residents they are sharing the area with the wildlife in the Angeles National Forest and Verdugo Mountains. The U.S. Forest Service has stated there are more bears sightings in communities since the Eaton Fire; however, many times these sightings are not reported, although they are shared on social media.

“The department (California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) has not noticed an increase in reports or above average bear activity in this area. These neighborhoods interface with Angeles National Forest and the Verdugo Mountains, and the activity we are seeing is typical for the wildland-urban interface, especially during the dry summer period,” said Cort Klopping, Fish and Wildlife spokesperson.

As temperatures rise everyone, including animals, are looking for a place to beat the heat … and for water. 

“It’s likely that bears, and wildlife in general, are drawn closer to populated areas due to easier access to water when it’s hot and dry. We have had a couple of reports of bears cooling off in ponds. Although chaparral systems are drought tolerant, the increases in summer temperatures stresses the native vegetation that bears typically rely on for food and cover,” Klopping said.

There is some advice Fish and Wildlife have for those living in a wildlife area, like the foothills.

• Remove attractants, check and secure access points to crawlspaces and keep

wildlife wild are the best things people can do if they live in areas close to wildlife

habitat or in the wild land urban interface. Removing attractants includes securing

garbage cans, picking up fallen fruit from trees around a property, not leaving pet

food outside, cleaning off grills after each use, covering pools and removing bird

feeders. Bears can smell food sources from five miles away and removing those

attractants can help to avoid drawing them towards your property.

• Check and Secure Access Points to Crawlspaces: It’s important to routinely check access

points to crawlspaces leading under your home or deck to ensure they are secured.

These sources of shade and shelter are attractive to bears and the best prevention to

bears utilizing those spaces is to make sure they cannot access them.

• Keeping Wildlife Wild: Do not feed or interact with wildlife to keep them from

becoming habituated to being around people. Bears have a healthy natural fear of

humans, but if they become comfortable being around people the likelihood of

human-wildlife conflict with bears increases dramatically.