Foraging black bear returned to the woods

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1998 | 11:05 a.m.

Wildlife officials set traps for the bear about two weeks ago, after repeated concerns from residents. They were starting to think the 325-pound bruin had left the area when he went for the trap late Monday.

"I had kind of given up," said Carl Lackey, a biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife. "It is not a typical place for a bear. He shouldn't be there."

The bear was tranquilized and taken into the mountains near the Mount Rose ski area, where it was released on Tuesday.

The bear was trapped in the backyard of Leigh Ann Scott, who said she baited the trap with honey, bacon grease and a cinnamon loaf her children wouldn't eat.

Scott said her family never felt threatened by the bear, adding that it tended to show up at night, when her children were in bed.

Scott's neighbor, Faye Tayour, was a little more concerned because her children often play in nearby fields. Her anxiety rose after the bear made itself at home in the doghouse one evening.

"My daughter came in crying about the dog," she said. "The dog was chained to the doghouse. He was just going nuts. But the barking didn't seem to faze the bear."

Tayour said she's glad the bear is gone, but a little sad, too.

"I feel better that is he gone, she said. "But you get kind of attached."

Lackey said the bear was the 10th he has trapped in northern Nevada since May. A wet spring and development in natural bear habitat has led to increased contact between humans and bears this summer, he said.