Bear found hanging out in Briargate
More Colorado Springs residents are finding bears where they aren't expected - in urban areas east of the mountains.

Search continues for woodpecker
On Fridays, he collects the pictures. One week last month, he took home 125,000 from the dozen cameras scattered throughout the woods of eastern Arkansas. During the week, he looks through every photo in his spare time, scanning the images for a glimpse of the bird some say has been extinct for nearly half a century.

Spring means return of hungry bears, cubs
Science has yet to answer the riddle of the trancelike state of consciousness a bear enters in its winter den. It's not quite asleep and it's not quite awake. The process is called aestivation, and it's not well-understood.

Grizzlies' protection in question
Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park no longer need Endangered Species Act protection, the federal government said. The area had an estimated 136 to 312 grizzlies when the species was listed as threatened in 1975, but has more than 500 of the bears today, the government said.

Mule deer habitat, energy at odds in state's land swap
A land swap is in the works between an energy company and the Colorado Division of Wildlife in a basin that is home to what is believed to be the country's largest mule deer herd.

Park pushes for hunters to kill elk
Colorado's top wildlife officer said Thursday he is optimistic that licensed hunters, rather than park employees firing guns with silencers, will be used to thin the burgeoning elk herd that is overgrazing and damaging habitat in Rocky Mountain National Park.

City plans birth control for squirrels gone wild
Afraid that a population explosion among squirrels in a city park could pose a public health risk, Santa Monica officials are ready to try a proven method of dealing with the problem: birth control shots.

Longest-serving wildlife officer hangs up his hat
When Nick Pinell became a wildlife officer, the foothills of Colorado Springs were unpopulated, black bears didn't live off people's trash and Briargate was still the kind of place where the deer and the antelope played.

Deer rescuer's motto: Anything for a buck
Howard Crites isn't a volunteer firefighter, but he's earned the admiration of the Wescott Fire Department. Twice in 10 years, the 73-yearold has endangered himself to rescue deer that had fallen through the ice on his trout-filled pond.

Wolves to be taken off endangered species list
Wolves in the northern Rockies will be removed from the endangered species list within the next year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday, a move that would open the population up to trophy hunting.