I watched a hungry bear eat from a bear-proof trash can

I used to be explaining the placement of my broken-down automotive in Angeles National Forest to the tow truck dispatcher once I all of a sudden discovered myself shouting.

“Bear!” I yelled.

A black bear ambled throughout the highway and into Red Box Picnic Area. I hollered on the bear, as did one other particular person within the lot.

The bear ignored us each, targeted on the place it will discover its dinner that night time: a bear-proof trash can.

In this version of The Wild, our weekly open air e-newsletter, I’ll share the three bear encounters I had final week with black bears in Angeles National Forest. They have been my first, second and third occasions to expertise bruins within the San Gabriels. The third time, when a bear slapped my backpacking tent, was essentially the most memorable second. We’ll get to that later.

For anybody feeling rusty on the very best plan of action once you see a black bear in our native mountains, right here’s a fast refresher on the information I bought beforehand from a conservation biologist.

• 🙅🏃Don’t run. You will seem like prey.
• 🗣️ Let bears know you’re there. Say one thing loudly and calmly — don’t shriek! — like “Hey, bear!” in a deep voice.
• 💪 Make your self massive. Put your arms up and out — don’t shake them round — and attempt to get the bear’s consideration with out indicating that you simply’re scared or that you simply’re a menace to that bear.
• 👀👀👀 Keep your eye on the bear. But don’t look it within the eye. That will be perceived as threatening or such as you’re attempting to be dominant.
• 🤔 Observe its conduct and react accordingly. To study extra about this portion of my suggestions, take a look at No. 4 on my record.
• 🏔️ Carry bear spray. Bear spray is authorized to hold in Angeles National Forest and customarily on nationwide forest land until in any other case posted. It is prohibited in Yosemite National Park and different California nationwide parks.

A black bear wanders alongside Canyon Road in March 2020 in Arcadia.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Anyone who hikes in Angeles National Forest is probably going aware of Red Box Picnic Area. It’s the place adventurers park to hike as much as Strawberry Peak or different close by trails, just like the Gabrielino Trail, which I wrote about final week. That’s how I discovered myself briefly stranded within the forest.

I had spent the day mountaineering previous attractive wildflowers and splashing round within the Arroyo Seco. I bought again to my automotive round 7:30 p.m., found my automotive’s battery was useless and, after realizing I had cellphone reception, known as for assist.

As I waited, I chatted with a great Samaritan, an open air girl studying a guide in her automotive who determined she’d wait with me till a service technician arrived.

The bear arrived within the lot round 8:30 p.m. As the solar dipped decrease into the horizon, we watched the hungry fluffball knock over the brown metallic trash can that was particularly designed to maintain its species out.

A bear with its head inside a bear-proof trash can.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

After knocking the trash can down, the bear simply shoved its arms inside. Over the following a number of minutes, it repeatedly shook the can towards its (lovable) face. It was form of like watching a human shake a potato chip bag towards their mouth to get the final bits of scrumptious fried starch.

My new pal and I agreed, in all our travels all through California, we hadn’t seen something like this. I contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to ask them: How regular is it for a bear to deftly navigate the mechanisms of a trash can constructed to withstand it?

“It’s pretty uncommon that the bears actually break in,” company spokesman Cort Klopping mentioned. “When I was talking to our biologist about it yesterday and a couple people in the office, the reactions were all kind of like, ‘Wow.’ Either somebody didn’t secure that thing or that bear was an absolute hulk of a bear to get into a bear-proof or bear-resistant trash can. … I was joking with the biologist that I think I’ve actually had trouble opening those.

“You were witness to what I would refer to as a pretty rare sight,” Klopping added.

I’d identified there was a bear within the space once I began my hike earlier that day. At Switzer Picnic Area, I learn indicators posted across the picnic tables warning guests, “Active Bear Area: Do not feed bears or leave food unattended.” The flier featured a picture of a bear standing on a picnic desk, consuming by way of some household’s meal.

An indication posted on the Switzer Picnic Area in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Angeles National Forest spokesperson Keila Vizcarra mentioned in an e-mail that since final August, forest officers have acquired at the least 4 studies from the general public and employees about two bears energetic within the Switzer space.

Earlier this month, recreation employees noticed two bears on the Switzer Picnic Area consuming meals left unattended at a picnic desk. They notified state wildlife officers.

“The animals may be the same bears seen last year, but it is difficult to confirm because tag numbers are not always visible or provided; in this case, one of the bears did not appear to be tagged,” Vizcarra mentioned.

Forest employees use varied hazing strategies to discourage bears and different wildlife from consuming human meals, like making loud noises, securing or repairing trash cans and educating guests about find out how to hold their meals protected from animals, she mentioned.

“A major contributing factor continues to be unsecured or unattended food, which attracts bears from long distances,” Vizcarra mentioned.

The bear at Red Box completed its trash-inspired tasting menu after which walked previous our automobiles. We each honked, nevertheless it was so unfazed, I puzzled aloud whether or not it was deaf. (It wasn’t.)

It then headed south from the car parking zone, and we didn’t see it once more. I had already deliberate to put in writing this week’s e-newsletter about that have.

Then I went backpacking as a little bit deal with to myself.

On Friday afternoon, my canine, Maggie May, and I headed out from close to Pasadena down the Gabrielino Trail with a plan to camp in a single day on the Gould Mesa Trail Camp. Despite loving the outside, I’d by no means been backpacking, however after my dad and mom purchased me a tent and sleep pad for my birthday in late May, I used to be itching to go. Gould Mesa is near a metropolis. It’s subsequent to the Arroyo Seco with water to filter and reachable by a brief two-mile principally flat hike. It felt like the right first journey.

About a mile in, a mountain biker warned us of a “big bear, really big bear” on the campground earlier than he sped off. A feminine hiker informed me the bear was common, in all probability 5 toes on its haunches. Others hadn’t seen it.

I used to be speaking to a different mountain biker, who was telling me the bear had been energetic within the space for a couple of month, when a person got here racing down the path, shouting about how the bear was aggressive and harmful. The man mentioned he’d lunged on the bear, attempting to guard his meals, and proceeded to make a number of selections that may seemingly be discovered on a “What not to do when you encounter a bear” record. Maggie and I continued onward.

We arrived on the campground round 4:30 p.m. and didn’t see something. I requested a mom and son arrange on the website subsequent to mine concerning the bear, they usually pointed to a big coast stay oak the place a small, younger bear laid over a thick department, its small toes dangling down, proper above the path. One motive hikers hadn’t seen the bear was that they’d walked proper underneath it.

A younger bear lies on the department of a big coast stay oak above the Gabrielino Trail close to Pasadena.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

The bear had entered the campground from close to the river, and with out the mother-son duo realizing that the bear was approaching them, it grabbed their meals proper off their picnic desk. The mother informed me that she thought of attempting to tug the meals again, however the bear made noises suggesting that it most popular she didn’t. It then left the campground, and presumably after consuming the meal that her son informed me had “a lot of protein” in it, the bear climbed into the tree and took a nap.

I’d camped in areas with bears earlier than, together with in Kings Canyon National Park the place bears got here into the campground each night time. This bear wasn’t being aggressive. Instead, it appeared younger and prefer it was testing out how simple it was to get meals from these bizarre animals — we people — in its yard.

I made a decision to remain, particularly after the bear left round 7:30 p.m., and none of us noticed it once more. The campground was full, and two of us, myself included, had bear spray.

Maggie and I bought into the tent round 9 p.m. and shortly fell asleep to the candy serenade of frogs and toads singing their nightly songs.

Then, at 2:39 a.m., I woke as much as the sound of one thing slapping the nook of my tent subsequent to my head.

“What the f—?” I screamed.

I lay there, coronary heart racing, listening.

I had put my tent’s rain fly on, so I couldn’t see exterior, however I might hear the bear because it left. A big whoosh-whoosh sound headed away from my tent.

For the following 20 minutes, I listened intently to each single sound the forest made. Then, after checking that my bear spray and satellite tv for pc communicator have been shut by, I fell again asleep. In the morning, I discovered a small minimize in my rain fly that the bear’s paw had left. My dad later urged that I date the outlet with a marker.

A small minimize left after a bear swiped the rain fly of Wild author Jaclyn Cosgrove’s backpacking tent.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Maggie and I left round 10:30 a.m. to beat the day’s warmth. Once at my automotive and with robust cellphone reception, I need to admit that I opened ChatGPT. I don’t have a bear biologist on velocity dial — but! — and I wished to speak to somebody about why the bear hit my tent.

I defined that there wasn’t any meals or toiletries in my tent. I had packed all the pieces inside a bear canister that I then positioned contained in the bear vault within the campground. The chatbot and I quickly agreed: This bear was seemingly making its rounds for a late-night snack, hoping somebody had dropped a marshmallow or sizzling canine, when it encountered my tent. Maybe my tent was in its method. Maybe it appeared bizarre.

Later, I known as Klopping with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife once more.

When we’d spoke earlier within the week concerning the trash-can bear, I’d requested him whether or not that bruin was vulnerable to euthanasia.

I informed him that Goldie, a mama bear euthanized by the state earlier this 12 months after swiping at and injuring two individuals, was prime of thoughts for me, together with Victor, a beloved bear in Mammoth who was euthanized in 2024.

Goldie was the primary California black bear to be euthanized in 2026, Times employees author Clara Harter reported. “There were two bears euthanized in 2025, three bears in 2024 and five  bears in 2023, according to Fish and Wildlife,” Harter wrote.

Klopping mentioned the trash-can bear was simply out for a straightforward meal and could be categorized as a “no harm, no foul bear,” defined by the company as “a bear that has strayed into an area where an incident could occur, has not engaged in nuisance activity or caused property damage, and may require assistance to return to nearby suitable habitat.”

He mentioned it was unlikely, primarily based on what I reported, that the bear could be moved because it was already in a forest removed from any neighborhood. Instead, the one motion would in all probability be that somebody safe the bear-proof trash can so it truly capabilities correctly. (Sorry, bear.)

“As much as I don’t want to say it, this bear is doing bear things,” Klopping mentioned. “This is a natural thing for a bear to do. It’s searching out calories to sustain itself — they’re there, readily available. This bear knows how to get to them.”

When I known as Klopping again to speak concerning the bear (or bears) on the campground, I used to be extra apprehensive. I reported the incident by way of the agency’s website as a result of I do know its biologists use the information for a number of causes, together with discerning when to implement bear-resistant measures in an space or relocate a bear. But once more, I apprehensive about what would occur to the bear or bears.

A black bear peeks its head across the vault bathrooms within the Red Box Picnic Area in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Klopping had informed me it was uncommon for the company to euthanize a bear: California Department of Fish and Wildlife acquired 2,735 calls and studies relating to black bears in 2025, together with some duplicates the place a number of individuals have been reporting the identical incident, in contrast with the 2 bear euthanizations that very same 12 months.

During our second name, he informed me {that a} biologist would overview the report I made and may name me to get extra info, however once more, this wasn’t “aggressive” conduct, he mentioned.

When bear yearlings separate from their moms at round 18 months previous — which frequently occurs in June — Klopping mentioned the company will get studies of those adolescent bears wandering nearer to populated areas.

“You would use the term ‘testing boundaries’ — that may have been exactly what happened here,” he mentioned. “Odds are pretty good you probably scared it just as much as it scared you.”

I hope the bears I encountered quickly return to foraging for forest delicacies that don’t are available fast-food wrappers.

As attention-grabbing as final week was, I actually hope the one bears I see the remainder of the summer season are on the satisfaction festivals I attend. They’re completely welcome to go tenting with me!

3 issues to do

Cyclists journey down an open road at a earlier CicLAvia occasion.

(CicLAvia Los Angeles)

1. Frolic by way of the streets in South L.A.
CicLAvia will host a free car-free open streets occasion from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday by way of the Leimert and Exposition Park neighborhoods. The 3.6-mile pop-up park features a quick phase of Crenshaw Boulevard and principally stretches alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Crenshaw to Figueroa Street. Visitors are welcome to stroll, skate, bike, play and discover alongside the route. For extra particulars, go to ciclavia.org.

2. Celebrate Pride alongside the river in Long Beach
Friends of the L.A. River will co-host an LGBTQ Pride nature stroll from 10 a.m. to midday Saturday by way of the Dominguez Gap Wetlands with the California Native Plant Society South Coast Chapter. Plant fanatic Tory Jaimez will information the stroll, educating members about native ecology. Register at support.folar.org.

3. Listen to the birds in Huntington Beach
We Explore Earth, an area open air group group, will co-host with Save Orange Hills and Friends of Shipley Nature Center a peaceable chicken stroll from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach. Guides will assist members find out about native chicken species and ecosystems. Register at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

Perched atop a tall pine tree, resident bald eagles Jackie, left, and Shadow shield their newest offspring of their 5-foot-wide nest. The nest is viewable by way of a stay feed from the nest cam.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit behind a well-liked eagle nest digital camera, is speeding to raise $10 million by July 31 to purchase land that would grow to be a lakeside gated group, resulting in the destruction of essential habitat that superstar birds Jackie and Shadow use for foraging, together with different wildlife who name it house. Times employees author Lila Seidman wrote that if the nonprofit can elevate the cash, then the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust would preserve the roughly 63 acres and may switch it to the U.S. Forest Service (a typical follow of land conservancies). That’s in the event that they meet the July deadline. “Failure is not an option,” mentioned Jenny Voisard, media and web site supervisor for Friends of Big Bear Valley. “We’re not going to let them build on it.”

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

After Goldie the bear was euthanized, lawmakers listened to the general public’s demand for a extra clear technique of when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to kill a bear that the company has deemed a menace to public security. That consists of Senate Bill 1135 by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) that may “create the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which would provide public education, offer technical assistance and maintain a statewide incident reporting system. It would help communities deploy nonlethal devices to deter predators, like barriers or noise and light machines,” former Times employees author Katie King wrote. The invoice is about to have a listening to earlier than the state Assembly’s Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife on Tuesday on the state Capitol. Although the deadline to submit a letter to the committee has handed, residents can nonetheless attend the listening to, the place they’re allowed to offer their title, group (if with one) and their place on the invoice. You can nonetheless additionally contact your Assembly member or the committee.

For extra insider recommendations on Southern California’s seashores, trails and parks, take a look at previous editions of The Wild. And to view this text in your browser, click on right here.