ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Parks and Wildlife department issued a call to avoid situations that attract bears and allow access to food as the animals wake from hibernation.

The department reminded residents and visitors in the state's mountain areas to keep food out of cars and lock ground-floor windows and doors in homes and garages, The Aspen Times reports.

Pet food should be brought inside and use of bird feeders and grill cleaning should be temporarily discontinued, the department said.

Male bears typically emerge first from hibernation, followed by solitary females and then females with cubs, usually in mid- to late April, the department said.

The hungry bears seek grasses and other vegetative matter after not eating for months. Preventing access to trash and other human food sources is critical to their health, the department said.

The wildlife department received 5,369 reports of human-bear interactions last year statewide, with a third of the reports involving bears attracted to trash.

The department already has received bear-related calls from eight of 64 counties this spring.

"The message is the same as it ever was because it's the right message — don't do things that are attracting bears to your property," Northwest Region Public Information Officer Randy Hampton said.