As the leaves start to fall and frost settles over the Interior of British Columbia one burly resident lifts its head, sniffs the cool fall air and gets back to breakfast, as he or she knows the end is near. No, it’s not the apocalypse, but simply a lone black bear trying to get as many meals in as it can before the inevitable winter denning. For those who live in downtown Vancouver this is as much a non-event as is another rainy day. But, for those who reside in the Thompson-Okanagan region it’s the time to be bear aware.
Bears are now entering a phase of their yearly cycle called “hyperphagia,” notes WildSafe BC Provincial Co-ordinator, Frank Ritcey. They’re consuming up to 20,000 calories in a single day, creating stores of fat to make it through their winter denning period.
“Garbage, unpicked fruit, bird feeders, pet food, outdoor freezers, and small livestock all become targets for the bears,” Ritcey warns. “Preventing bears from accessing these attractants will help to keep the wildlife wild and our communities safe.”
Ritcey states that black bears “can smell food more than a kilometre away, which makes any food or garbage around your house vulnerable.”
Bears have been known to go to great lengths to get at garbage, even behind closed doors — one of the many reasons that each year the BC Conservation Service responds to over 20,000 bear calls, most of which are related to garbage. Of these bear calls, conservation officers end up killing 1,000 bears annually.
While calls were down 20 per cent this summer over previous years, there’s still a lot of work to do regarding awareness.
It’s been proven that relocating habituated or garbage bears doesn’t work as they’re often killed by rivals, migrate back to their original territory or fail to adapt to their new territory and consequently starve to death.
All this can be avoided if residents learn a little bit about the wild animals outside their doors. Bears are 130 to 275 kilogram wild animals that need food, and need it now, to survive. A locked car or secure garage door won’t necessarily stop bruin instinct from getting at your garbage.
Be sure to harvest fruit trees, turn compost, put birdseed away, don’t feed pets outside, and freeze smelly garbage taking it to the dump often. Following these guidelines will reduce bear encounters this fall.
Click here for more Bear Aware tips.
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