SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Fresh snowfall blankets the Tahoe Basin which is to be expected in the winter months, but what many people don’t expect is to see a black bear rumbling around, but it’s become more common.

Wisdom on how to coexist with bears is available through many organizations and agencies. Many of them have collaborated to create Keep Tahoe Bears Wild and TahoeBears.org. The partnership comprises the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Parks, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Black bears spend the fall bulking up during a time of hyperphagia, during which time they need four times the amount of calories they need during the spring. What is expected of the ursid friends of Tahoe is for them to bed down for the winter and hibernate after they fatten up.

Hibernation, according to National Geographic is “an extended form of torpor, a state where metabolism is depressed to less than 5% of normal.” 

According to the NDOW website, “torpor [is] more accurate for bears, occurs in late fall or early winter as the weather cools and natural food becomes less available.”