Bears forced to eat trash

In more drought-related news, black bears in the Lake Tahoe area are roaming around in search of garbage to eat instead of hibernating.

“We have had black bears in the Tahoe Basin that have actually either not hibernated, or in most cases hibernate just a little bit, and then wake up on garbage night,” said Chris Healy, Nevada Department of Wildlife public-information officer, in a California News Service article. “Basically, [they] follow the garbage truck around, eat for a couple of days, and then go back into hibernation.”

The bears’ normal food—berries and nuts—are in short supply due to the drought.