The Urbanization of Black Bears, with Toogee Sielsch

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What happens when black bears are drawn to urban areas? Here to tell us, is long time Lake Tahoe resident and bear expert, Toogee Sielsch. For Toogee, what started as an interest in black bears quickly snowballed into helping neighbors evict them from under their homes. He now uses his knowledge and skills to give back through bear safe education, bear evictions, and lending out electric bear mats to community members, all free of charge. The black bear population in Lake Tahoe Basin is incredibly high, with an estimated 2 bears per square mile. This increased density dramatically effects everything about the urbanized black bear, from its behavior and offspring production to its food selection and foraging skills. In this episode, Toogee walks me through the differences between wild and urbanized bears, and what we can do to protect ourselves and our properties from those bears who are far too comfortable with people.
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Chapter

1. The Urbanization of Black Bears, with Toogee Sielsch (00:00:00)

2. Urbanized Bears (00:04:24)

3. California Grizzlies (00:07:29)

4. Becoming Interested in Bears (00:09:01)

5. Serving the Community (00:13:33)

6. Maui (00:15:33)

7. Black Bear Misconceptions (00:19:10)

8. The Danger in Bear Evictions (00:20:50)

9. Hibernation (00:22:05)

10. Bear Density Impacts on Behavior (00:24:11)

11. Bear Mating and Offspring (00:28:17)

12. Bear Fat (00:32:06)

13. Urbanization and Torpor (00:34:30)

14. Losing Foraging Skills (00:38:30)

15. Wildlife Biology Lesson - Urbanized Bears (00:41:10)

16. Human Bear Conflict (00:45:15)

17. Den Sites (00:51:32)

18. Targeting Fatty Foods (00:54:46)

19. What's Next for These Bears? (01:01:14)

20. Electric Bear Mats (01:04:38)

21. Tips to Keep Out Bears (01:07:52)