Winnie the Pooh relocated from Niwot

On July 30, Dawn and Jeff Server, co-owners of Meadow Lake Honey, fell victim to a robbery on their farm. The culprit: a two-and-a-half-year-old female sow bear. Jeff discovered the crime scene on Saturday at 8 a.m. He found the bee boxes knocked over with many bees buzzing angrily, and of course, a portion of their honey supply was gone.

The Servers called the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) office and the Northeast region chapter came in to investigate the scene. The CPW initially planned to set a cage-type trap on their property, but the couple later discovered the bear was still on site in a tree, and CPW officers were able to tranquilize her and relocate her to a forested location 25 miles west of Niwot.

According to the CPW NE Region’s Twitter post, “Wildlife officers released a bear Saturday evening after relocating it out of Niwot. It had gotten into a beehive earlier in the day, which is one of 11 reports of this bear getting into trash, birdfeeders, and other food sources this month.”

In order to keep bears away from your neighborhood, here are a few tips: keep garbage cans indoors overnight or use a bear-resistant garbage can; feed your pets inside and store your pet food and bird seed indoors; burn barbeques to clean them immediately after use and store them in a secure shed or garage; string birdfeeders high out of reach on a cable; harvest fruit and vegetables as they ripen before bears get to them; never leave food, trash, pet food or coolers in your car; lock doors and windows, especially at night; do not put meat, fish or bones in your compost pile; and educate your neighbors, because if you follow these steps but your neighbors don’t, bears may still come into your backyard.

If you’re walking in your neighborhood, please take these precautions: heed warning signs of bear activity; keep dogs on a leash, especially near streams; make noise as it reduces your chances of surprising a bear; avoid berry patches; and remember, if a bear is watching you, you are disturbing it.

If you do see a bear in the neighborhood, remember to stay calm, stay away, warn others, scare the bear by being as loud and big as you can.

Who to call for help:

• Call 911 if the bear is threatening human safety

• Call Boulder’s non-emergency dispatch 303-441-3333 to report a bear in your neighborhood

• Call 303-441-3440 to report sightings and bear activity after the bear has left the area