Wyoming Game Wardens Target Bear Breaking Into Cabins In Snowies

A black bear has been raising a dangerous ruckus in and around cabins in the Snowy Range Mountains, but some folks hope it wises up and leaves so it doesn’t have to be killed.

“When a bear starts breaking into cabins, they (Wyoming Game and Fish wardens) have to euthanize it. That’s the policy, because it’s becoming a danger to humans,” Dave Simpson told Cowboy State Daily.

Maybe The Bear Will Just Leave

Simpson owns a cabin in the Snowies at Overlook Retreat south of the town of Elk Mountain and near Turpin Reservoir.

There are numerous cabins there, and since spring an elusive black bear has been getting into things and tearing stuff up, even breaking into an entering a cabin, he said.

Game and Fish has set a trap for the bear, and if it’s caught, it will likely have to be killed, said Simpson.

But he doesn’t want that to happen, and neither does the local game warden, who Simpson has spoken with about the situation.

“He told me, ‘The last thing I want to do is kill the bear,’ but that’s the policy they have to follow in these situations,” said Simpson, who is a retired newspaper editor and publisher who writes a regular column for Cowboy State Daily.

Simpson said that he, the game warden and others hope the bear just wises up and leaves.

“More people are coming up for summer, there’s about 50 cabins in this area, and we’re hoping that with more people around, the bear will just shy away,” said Simpson.

Spice Rack Raid

Simpson said he first noticed damage to his cabin when he came up around Father’s Day.

The bear had pried open a wall panel on an addition to the cabin and wrecked a self with spices on it.

“There was all this salt, pepper, paprika and various other spices scattered around, and some of them had been eaten,” Simpson said.

Some olive oil was also missing, and he guessed that the bear had gulped it down.

The bear apparently didn’t come completely inside Simpson’s cabin, but it left a whole big enough for another, smaller critter to do so, perhaps a pine marten.

That critter came in and punctured containers of bug spray, dish soap and boxed wine.

Trouble Continues

The bear also opened and tipped over a heavy-duty construction toolbox that a neighbor used to store supplies.

“This last weekend, I went up to the cabin, and this bear had pulled down the chimney for my water heater,” Simpson said.

Taking to a more natural snack source, the bear had also ripped open a tree stump on his property and gobbled up the ants that were living inside the stump.

Unfortunately, the bear also ripped the window shutters off a neighbor’s cabin and climbed inside, Simpson said. That’s the line that can’t be crossed.

Bears From Colorado?

Simpson said he’s had the cabin for 43 years, but had previously seen only one bear up there.

Lately, though, it seems as if there have been more sightings and bear activity in the area.

It’s possible bears are coming up from Colorado, Simpson said. During a recent conversation with a friend who is an avid bear hunter, he learned that Colorado recently cut back on its spring season bear licenses.

“He thinks we’re going to be seeing more bears from now on, because isn’t as enthusiastic about hunting bears as Colorado is,” Simpson said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.