LAKE CITY, Colo. — A 74-year-old Lake City man was attacked and injured by a black bear inside his home Thursday night, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Sunday. The bear and her three cubs were euthanized after the incident.
CPW said in a news release that the bear and her cubs entered the Hinsdale County home through a partially cracked sliding glass door, causing a loud crash that startled the residents.
Once the animals were inside, the victim of the attack grabbed a chair from the kitchen and attempted to direct the adult bear out the door. But the bear charged the man, knocking him into a wall before briefly standing over him. The bear swiped at the man, who incurred significant wounds from being clawed, according to the news release.
The 74-year-old man declined to be transported to the hospital and was treated at the scene.
Wildlife officers arrived at the home and located the sow and all three cubs up multiple trees outside the house. All four bears involved were subsequently euthanized and sent to CPW’s health lab in Fort Collins to be tested for disease and to undergo a full necropsy.
“There was no question that these were the bears involved,” CPW Area Wildlife Manager Brandon Diamond said in a news release. “It’s a terrible set of circumstances that, unfortunately, our District Wildlife Managers are routinely faced with. Clearly, these bears were highly habituated and were willing to enter an occupied house with the residents sitting just feet away. When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, clearly a lot of interaction with people has already happened, and unless communities are working with us collaboratively and communicating issues, we have no opportunity to intervene.”
CPW said before Thursday night’s attack, the agency had received only eight official reports of bear activity in the county so far this year. However, they said it is common for bears to be in and around Lake City, and there have been several social media reports of bears getting into unoccupied homes and garages in the area.
Wildlife officials said this is the first reported bear attack in Colorado this year, significantly less than the six reported in 2023. There have been 96 reported bear attacks on humans in Colorado dating back to 1960.
CPW stresses the importance of bearproofing your home by doing the following:
- Keep garbage in a well-secured location.
- Only put out garbage on the morning of pickup.
- Clean garbage cans regularly to keep them free of food odors: ammonia is effective.
- Use a bear-resistant trash can or dumpster.
- Don't leave pet food or stock feed outside.
- Bird feeders are a major source of bear/human conflicts. Attract birds naturally with flowers and water baths. Do not hang bird feeders from April 15 to Nov. 15.
- Do not attract other wildlife by feeding them, such as deer, turkeys or small mammals.
- Don’t allow bears to become comfortable around your house. If you see one, yell at it, throw things at it, make noise to scare it off.
- Secure compost piles. Bears are attracted to the scent of rotting food.
- Clean the grill after each use.
- Clean-up thoroughly after picnics in the yard or on the deck.
- If you have fruit trees, don't allow the fruit to rot on the ground.
- If you keep small livestock, keep animals in a fully covered enclosure. Construct electric fencing if possible. Don’t store livestock food outside, keep enclosures clean to minimize odors, hang rags soaked in ammonia and/or Pine-Sol around the enclosure.
- If you have beehives, install electric fencing where allowed.
- Talk to your neighbors and kids about being bear aware.
- Keep garage doors closed.
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