Authorities are on the lookout for a bandit accused of breaking and entering a number of Incline Village homes recently.

His description: 700 pounds with black hair and a healthy appetite.

Black bears, a longtime chronic problem in Sierra neighborhoods, are weraking havoc in Incline Village. Or, at least one bear is and he's notable for his size and his habits.

The black bear is part of the Sierra landscape. It's estimated 200to 300 of them roam the Carson Range between Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe. Most live their lives in the wilderness, rarely seen, but as we've come to live increasingly in their world, they've picked up some bad habits from us and it's causing problems for both species.

At an estimated 700 pounds, the bear prowling Incline far outweighs his wilder cousins living off the land. It's likely he's the same bear that's been breaking into homes like this for the past 3 years. His M.O.: garage doors.

He may have picked up the habit from a resident in this neighborhood who reportedly fed bears for years. If so, he did the animal no favors.

"The bear is always the loser," says Madonna Dunbar, Resource Conservationist for the Incline Village General Improvement District.

If caught early enough problem bears are trapped by the Nevada Division of Wildlife, then released with a dose of loud noises, chased back into the wild by dogs, hopefully learning hanging around humans is not a great idea.
This bear is leery of traps set for him by NDOW and, in any case, is thought beyond rehabilitation and, if caught, will be euthanized.

I doesn't have to be this way. There are simple solutions. Bear proof metal boxes, locking containers, the Incline Village General Improvement District's ordinance requires homeowners get them or keep their garbage inside a garage.

Clearly that last option no longer works and only 10 to 15 percent of the community's 4200 homes has the bear proof containers. Garbage and food to be kept in garage freezers continues to attract and this bear has no trouble sensing that or getting in.

Now that the bear has picked up the habit even taking all recommended steps is no guarantee.

Steve Berardo and his wife have a bear box and don't keep food in the garage.

They had taken every precaution, but didn't count on the allure of the batch Mrs. Berardo's killer chutney she had just cooked up that night.
The smell brought the bear and he tried to enter the only way he knew, tearing a hole in the Berardo's garage door damaging the vehicle inside.

"There's nothing we wouldn't have done," says Berardo, "but that chutney was pretty powerful stuff."

If Wildlive Division biologist ever need a better bait for their bear traps they might see Mrs. Berardo.