It’s a pretty common experience that a spring frost reduces the apple crop in fall, but it also has serious impacts on natural food sources, researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, are documenting how that affects food sources for Western Nevada black bears.
That drives them to seek their sustenance from yards and gardens, and sometimes even our pantries and chicken coops.
“We all notice when there’s a late frost, from the effects on our yards and gardens,” said Kelley Stewart, leader of the research project and professor in the University’s Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science, housed in the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources. “It’s much worse up on the hills for bears and other wildlife. The temperatures are more severe. The plants start growing and flowering with an early spring warm-up, and then there’s a late-season frost that takes them all out. It especially affects berries and the harder things like acorns, pinenuts and other things that nature normally provides for the bears.”…