'Blonde Grizzly' Woos Wayward Black Bears
Woman's voice and technique help her lead bears to safety.
Aug. 1, 2007 — -- How do you lure a bear out of a tree? Just ask him — at least that's the technique one woman is using.
In response to a huge surge of black bear sightings in the Lake Tahoe region, one animal lover has made it her personal mission to escort them back into the wild unharmed and in doing so, calm locals' nerves.
She is known "the Blonde Grizzly," and her methods are anything but passive.
Armed with a big voice and a gun loaded with vegetable-dye pellets, Bryant chases down her targets: "Let's go. Let's go. Go on. Stay safe!"
She's determined to be heard from the treetops. "I wanna keep him alive," said Bryant of one bear. "It's tough love."
It's Bryant's way of showing the bears who's in charge. And most of the time they respond, allowing her to coax them down from trees or out from under decks.
"Good bear, stay back there now," she says. "You don't need to be around people."
The bears are invading Lake Tahoe residents' homes and garbage in search of food. Last month's wildfires and a lasting drought have made both food and water scarce.
"We're seemingly being mean to the bears but it's actually called tough love. We're teaching them you can't be here in order to be safe," Bryant said. "I would love to be able to leave them alone, but they eventually start coming into houses and other people shoot them and kill them."
In California, the number of black bears showing up in residential areas has grown, as bears migrate into urban areas away from the wilderness. That's why the BEAR League, Bryant's organization of 150 trained volunteers and 1,000 supporting members, gets up to 200 calls a day from people who have spotted bears where they shouldn't be -- like the caller's kitchen.
Lake Tahoe's troublesome visitors are just part of a growing problem. Across the country, bears are invading suburbs coast to coast. In Rockland County, N.Y., tranquilizer darts sent a bear plummeting 45 feet into a firefighter's net. In Los Angeles, a visiting bear took a dip in a backyard pool.
