Three black bears charged across a busy California ski slope, as skiers and snowboarders scrambled to get out of the way. It was part of a pattern of\u00a0wildlife\u00a0showing up in unexpected places\u00a0because of mild winter weather,\u00a0and it\u2019s happening in Wyoming, as well.<\/p>\n
The bears, apparently a female with two older cubs, ran across the ski slope on Wednesday at Northstar California Resort, in the Lake Tahoe area,\u00a0ABC7 News<\/a>\u00a0reported. \u00a0<\/p>\n There was heavy snow that day, but previously, the\u00a0weather had been unseasonably warm.<\/p>\n California resident Beth Pratt told Cowboy State Daily that this week\u2019s snowstorms were a welcome change in the weather.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had, until this storm, an awfully dry winter. In fact, we were getting a little worried, said Pratt,\u201d who lives near Yosemite National Park.<\/p>\n She\u2019s the regional\u00a0executive\u00a0director for the National Wildlife Federation and worked in Yellowstone National Park from 2008 to 2011.<\/p>\n At lower elevations, such as where she lives, it\u2019s not unheard of to see bears out and about any time of the year.<\/p>\n But bears out on ski slopes at high elevation near Lake Tahoe is unusual, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not something typical for bears to be out like that this time of year, but it\u2019s not unheard of,\u201d Pratt said.<\/p>\n They might have been tempted out of their den by food, before the storm hit, Pratt said.<\/p>\n There are plentiful \u201chuman-provided food sources\u201d in the Lake Tahoe area, which is a hotbed of black bear activity, she said.<\/p>\n Were They Rousted From Sleep?<\/p>\n Retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody agreed that mild weather this winter has caused more bear activity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve already seen tracks recently out hiking along the Shoshone (River),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In January, a\u00a0grizzly was spotted<\/a>\u00a0wandering around in northern Yellowstone National Park.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year has produced a lot of strange sightings,\u201d Neal said.<\/p>\n As other\u00a0biologists\u00a0have noted, bears don\u2019t go into a complete stupor when they hibernate during the winter, Neal told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not truly hibernating, they\u2019re just sleeping,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And so it\u2019s possible that people or other wildlife got too close to the bears\u2019 den near Tahoe and rousted them from their sleep, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could have been roused relatively easily\u201d and decided to get up and look for food, Neal said.<\/p>\n Or the bears might have just decided to get up and go on a walkabout, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother possibility is that they went to bed really hungry and they couldn\u2019t stay asleep,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Split Lip Raises A Ruckus In Canada<\/p>\n Bears occasionally take to the ski slopes in Canada, Canadian bear safety expert\u00a0Kim Titchener told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n But usually not in mid-winter, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit early here for that, but common at the start of the winter ski season, and at the end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n One of Canada\u2019s favorite grizzlies halted a ski race in December.<\/p>\n A huge male called Split Lip showed up and shut down the race at Lake Louise, Alberta.<\/p>\n Though rare, it\u2019s not unheard of for Split Lip to show up during the winter,\u00a0Rocky Mountain Outlook<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n