LOOKING FOR AN EASY MEAL

A shortage of natural foods, such as berries and acorns, caused by drought and late frosts, is sending bears into urban areas in larger-than- normal numbers this year, wildlife officials say.

They are hungry critters:

20,000 calories or more are needed daily by bears preparing for hibernation. To take that in, they are eating 20 to 22 hours a day.

11,000 calories are available in a 7-pound tube of birdseed, making them a tempting - and nourishing - morsel. Unsecured garbage also makes an easy meal.

The unwelcome visits should end for the year in the next few weeks. The vast majority of bears will be in their winter dens by late September or mid- October, says Jerry Apker of the Division of Wildlife, and they should all be tucked away by mid-November.

Source: The Durango Herald

HELLO, AND YOUR NAME IS . . . ?

"If I knew I was going to have to have dinner with all of you every 10 years, I would have gotten to know more of you in high school."

Colorado Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, at his 40th high school reunion in Michigan this month

ROCKY FLASHBACK

100 years ago this week

• New cliff dwelling found near Mesa Verde

The vice president of the Denver Archaeological Society has had the distinction of discovering a new cliff-dweller palace. Situated in Spruce Tree Canyon, near Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, it has been hidden from the eye of civilization for hundreds of years, though it is in excellent shape and probably one of the most perfect cliff-dweller palaces discovered. The palace is six stories in height and constructed of blocks of stone more regularly cut than those found in the average cliff-dweller home.