Lake Tahoe Rentals and Black Bears

It is estimated there are 200 to 300 black bears in the Lake Tahoe Nevada area and most of them make their home above the small towns around the lake. Tahoe vacation rentals surrounding Lake Tahoe basin are located in many of these areas frequented by bears. While black bears are a wild animal and can weigh up to 700 800 lbs, they are coming down from the high mountains and into the neighborhoods in search of food. This creates a problem because what they are really doing is borrowing a bit food just like a good neighbor.

This week a family on vacation spotted a large bear while watching TV in their Tahoe vacation rental located in the Tahoe Vista area. Last week another family staying in a rental home in the upper Incline village area spotted a small cub tossing their full garbage can up in the air while laying on its back in a playful fashion. "The bear was so cute and looked so friendly I had to get my camera and take its picture," said Shannon. A bear can reach a top speed of 35 mph in seconds, climb a tree as fast as a squirrel and swim faster than any human that I know. To go outside for a snapshot sounds, well, pretty scary to me.

A typical wild bear consumes 20,000 calories per day vs. a human that consumes 2000 calories during the same time frame. Most of this food is made up of large quantities of berries, plants, nuts, roots, and fish. In late fall and early spring bears seek food all night and most of the day. However, one receptacle can be a buffet and these are not by any means dumb animals. Once they come across a trash can full of left over steak and chicken bones, fruits, and pretty much any type of food or liquid a human throws out they will break-in anyway possible. Once this happens, the bear will be back to the same location for more, as it knows it can rummage through the mountains for small berries and snacks or simply come down and hit the local buffet otherwise known as the garbage can. Bears can smell one hundred times better than humans, so I must surmise they walk around in the higher mountains just waiting for the right time to visit the trash can where unassuming travelers make the common mistake of not cleaning up after meals, cleaning barbeques or leaving trash bags outside.

There are thousands of vacation rentals in Lake Tahoe but unfortunately many of these homes do not utilize steel bear boxes. Bear-proofing trash cans are a fantastic way to prevent middle of the night burglaries. These steel bin enclosures are also known as a garbage can enclosure (GCE), and bear-resistant. Some owners provide a homemade simulated bear box made out of wood. This type of bear box is certain to become a stack of splintered firewood at one point. It is normal to drive through the Lake Tahoe neighborhoods and see these boxes made of 2x4’s and plywood shredded. If owners of Tahoe vacation rentals would post a note in their rentals and provide steel bear boxes there would be less bears traveling down from the high mountains. A local Tahoe casino was even visited by a small cub recently and it is also common for bears to break into homes that are left vacant for a period of time.

The damage these bears can cause in a few minutes is stunning. One morning last winter a renter came out to find his family vehicle torn apart. Both side mirrors were torn off and the weather stripping that surrounded all the windows had been torn away and the front passenger window was pulled down with such force it stripped the automatic gear that opened and closed the window. Once the bear entered the large suburban it was apparent there were food snacks from the kids under the seats as they were torn to shreds. He estimated the damage to be several thousand dollars.

Vacation rentals in Lake Tahoe can be found at ReserveMyHome and are certainly the preferred accommodation for families coming from California but many of these short-term renters are oblivious to the consequences the bears can cause. Owners and property managers would be doing a good deed for not only vacationers but the bears by providing renters with the proper clean up instructions posted in their rental homes and purchasing steel bear boxes.

Perhaps, 'Smokey the Bear' should advocate not feeding the bears in addition to wildfire carelessness.