video by Edna Queen, taken at her home in the Davis Mountains in May 2019.

There's nothing like the presence of an apex predator – an animal that could make a meal of you – to focus the attention. Davis Mountains residents had that experience in 2018 and 2019, when, for several months, black bear sightings became a regular occurrence.

It brings home a wild West Texas reality. Black bears had been exterminated here by the 1960s. Now, this is once again bear country.

Gary Freeman has lived in the sky-island woodlands of the Davis Mountains Resort since 2006.

“In 2016, I first saw two black bears on our property,” Freeman said. “In 2017-2018, there were no sighting of ... Hosted by for KRTS