Memory like a . . . bear

With a late September summer lavishing sunshine and warm weather on much of B.C. it’s been easy to forget that fall is here, and winter is just around the corner. The birds are active, the deer are still high up on the mountains and luckily the numerous black bears that call the Sun Peaks area home are still foraging naturally before their brains switch to “must eat” mode prior to bedding down for the winter.

While there are obviously numerous benefits to long warm Septembers there are also huge drawbacks when it comes to bear-human interaction. The problem is when the weather is nice people leave their gardens in longer, they leave fruit on the tree longer and they truly don’t start thinking about hungry bear season until it’s too late. In early fall all black bears start to think about finding a den and making sure they have enough fat stores to last a long cold winter ahead. They need up to 30,000 calories a day and whether it’s fruit, vegetables, compost or garbage, as long as it’s food of some kind, a black bear will go after it.

The saying goes that a fed bear is a dead bear and it sadly rings true. Once a bear has been exposed to a human food source it will forever remember that spot whether it was an apple on the ground, a bag of garbage carelessly left unsecured or a sandwich in the back of a pickup truck. One bear a few years ago actually learned how to open truck canopies to search for food much to the dismay of many local truck owners.

Being bear aware and bear safe is not a difficult thing to do but the sad reality is that a lot of people don’t seem to care. People need to realize that every time a bear wanders through their yard late at night, in search of garbage or fruit, they’re not only putting the bear’s life in jeopardy but also the lives of others. Once a bear has become habituated to humans and human garbage it can lose its fear and become a danger to those around it. These bears are usually put down, as relocating bears doesn’t work.

Habituated bears will break into anything to get at food and that includes houses, cars, and garages. If you think a window or locked garage door will stop a bear from getting at your garbage, you’re wrong. Protect yourself, your family and the bears by simply being bear aware. Freeze your smelly garbage if you can’t get to the dump that day, clean up all fruit, vegetables and compost from around your yard and make sure all dishes, garbage or anything else in your house that may become smelly is dealt with promptly.

Remember, we live in their territory and not the other way around and it’s up to you to make sure that Yogi doesn’t find his picnic basket at your house.