Huerfano County, Colorado
News Of The Day

Contributed by Louise Adams, formatted by Karen Mitchell.

2000

Plain Talk by Chief Glyn Ramsey - Huerfano World - August 30, 2001 We have had some bears in Walsenburg lately and as fall comes on, we will have some more. I have spoken with Wildlife Officer Lonnie Brown and here are some suggestions in dealing with the bears. The bears are coming into town because they are hungry. Don't leave car windows open and try to keep the doors and windows of your house as closed as much as possible, especially at night. Bears are opportunists and will try to get in wherever they can. Keep your trash cans or bags indoors until trash pick-up day. Keep dumpster lids locked. Don't leave bird feeders or pet food outside, especially at night. If you have fruit trees, the bears will come to them. The choices you have are to remove all the fruit from and around the trees, put an electric fence around the trees or let the bears have the fruit and they probably will tear up the tree in the process. If you get a bear on your property, it will usually leave when it sees you or you make a lot of noise. Sometimes, bears are conditioned to human activity and will not leave. Leave those bears alone and they will wander away. Bears will show "agitation" by growling and popping their jaws. If they are in a tree, there is no immediate danger. Leave them alone and they will move on. If a bear is on the ground and growling and popping its jaws, get away from it and call us immediately. We will notify the wildlife officer we have an aggressive bear. About the first of September, bears go into an intensive feeding mode in preparation for hibernation. Therefore, we can expect to see more bears in town, looking for food, over the next two to three months. Officer Brown said the state has ceased to pay personal property damages caused by wildlife, effective Aug. 7, 2001. Your police department will respond to all bear calls. If the call comes in after dark, the best we can hope to do is push the bear away from the immediate area. If the call is during the daylight hours, we will handle it as follows: If the bear is in a highly populated area and in a tree, We will put caution tape around the area to keep people away and monitor the area, for compliance; if the bear is on the ground, we will attempt to run it out of city limits and, if that fails, we will run it up a tree and put caution tape around the area. Usually, a bear in a tree during the day is trying to sleep. This time of year, they are constantly looking for food and may stay in the tree for just a short time. Your police department wants everyone to be safe, so please follow these few suggestions and the bears will be a minimum of trouble.

New Signage - Huerfano World - August 4, 2005 - A new sign has been installed in the garden at the entrance to the Parkway on Highway 12 in Cuchara, welcoming travelers to the village. The sign was hand carved by Trinidad Artist Manny Sanchez and donated by Bruce and Dixie Gordon in memory of their mothers, Joan Gordon and Phyllis Dale. Sanchez is also creating street signs for Cuchara to assist tourists and emergency services in finding Cuchara residents. Also helping make the project possible with delivery equipment and installation were: Ron Amato of Amato Lumber in Trinidad; Buddy Camp, Joe Cordova, Art and Bill Pierce, Mike Moore and Bruce Johnson. Hermosa Society, Cuchara, maintains the gardens at the Parkway through the volunteer efforts of Cleon and Carolyn Flanagan.



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