Teller County is black bear country, and trash is the trigger

The wooded country around Woodland Park, Divide, and Florissant is black bear habitat. Seeing a bear in Teller County is not a rare event — it is a normal part of living in the foothills forest. Bears here are almost always after one thing: an easy meal.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is blunt about the cause of most trouble. Bears that find human food or garbage, even once, learn to come back, and a food-conditioned bear often ends up dead. The fix is mostly about smells and access. Keep trash indoors — in a garage or shed — until the morning of pickup, or use a bear-resistant container. Take down bird feeders during bear season, since seed, suet, and hummingbird nectar are powerful draws. Don’t leave pet food, grills, or freezers full of food out where a bear can reach them.

This is not just friendly advice. In Colorado, leaving attractants like trash and bird feeders out where bears can get them can violate state law, and some towns and counties have their own trash ordinances on top of that.

Why this matters: your habits decide whether the bears in your neighborhood stay wild or become a problem that ends badly for the bear and risky for people.

For practical steps and the local rules, see Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s “Living with Bears” guidance.