Castle Rock Resident Watches CPW Shoot Named Bear Melanie

Jeff Berta named her Melanie.

It wasn’t a formal designation from the state wildlife agency, but a personal one, bestowed by a man who had traded the urban density of Chicago for the open spaces of Castle Rock four years ago. For Berta, seeing a mother bear and her two cubs move through the open space near his home wasn’t just a background event; it was the reason he had moved there in the first place.

“It’s one of the reasons we moved here,” Berta said. “Around here, you get the elk, the deer, the bobcats and of course the bears.”

The connection was visceral. He watched them for months. He studied the way the mother protected her young. He found himself captivated by the dynamic, describing it as “a beautiful, beautiful thing.” The bond was so strong that he put her image on his computer’s screensaver. He even kept a video of her playing on loop.

Then, the routine broke.

Berta was on his back deck when he heard what sounded like gunshots. He grabbed his binoculars and looked out toward the open space. What he saw was a scene of chaos and confusion. He saw Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officers on the ground. He saw two small bears stuck high in a tree.

“We noted that there were two small bears up in a tree, and we noted that they went up to get the bears and they brought them down to the ground,” Berta said.

The immediate aftermath was clear: the cubs were safe, being retrieved by the pros. But the mother? That part wasn’t clear to Berta right away. He knew she had been shot, but the full weight of the loss didn’t hit him until later.

“It’s a mother. It’s a mother, and I just can’t fathom killing an animal, let alone a mother,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

Now, CPW is investigating the shooting of the sow, known locally as Melanie. The two cubs have been taken to a rehabilitation facility, a standard procedure when a mother is removed from the equation. But the investigation into the CPW reported is still wide open.

Who pulled the trigger? And why?

To understand the legal stakes, you have to look at what doesn’t count as a valid reason to kill a bear in Colorado. Chris Decker, a legal analyst for FOX31, pointed out that fear alone or simple trespassing isn’t enough.

“You can’t just shoot a bear because they’re trespassing on your property. You can’t just shoot a bear because you may be afraid,” Decker said.

Investigators are now looking at the evidence to determine if the shooter believed they were facing an immediate threat. They’re combing through witness accounts and looking for video footage. The goal is to piece together the moments leading up to the shots fired.

CPW has not released specific details about what led to the shooting, nor have they confirmed if anyone has been cited. They haven’t even confirmed if the bears shown in viral videos are the same ones Berta watched from his deck. The investigation remains ongoing, a process that will likely take time as they sift through the data.

For Berta, the delay is just another layer of the loss. He’s left with a screensaver of a bear who is no longer there, and a community trying to figure out if the person who shot her acted within the rules or broke them.

“It’s kind of just a beautiful, beautiful thing,” Berta said of the connection he felt. Now, he’s left wondering if that connection was enough to save her.