Residents of a sleepy Cochrane neighbourhood have frequently been awakened to the sound of a black bear rummaging in their green recycling bins for three weeks now, after Fish and Wildlife officers tried trapping it without success.
People on Riverview Circle, which runs along the Bow River, are on high alert, but those who spoke to The Eagle on Oct.14 did not seem overly fearful or worried.
“Bears come and go. They travel great distances,” said John, a member of the British military who lives down the street and didn’t want his last name used.
He walks his dog in the morning; he saw police walking the pathway at 6 a.m. a couple of days earlier.
John said he doesn’t think the bear would be too interested in attacking him, so he’s not worried.
“If I came out of my house and saw a big black bear then I would be, but he’s looking for food, he’s scavenging – it’s that time of year,” he said.
He’d heard about the three bears who were relocated 200 kilometres away from Canmore a few weeks ago and returned two weeks later, only to be euthanized.
“That’s a shame,” he said.
People need to be aware of good garbage management, and common sense is key, he said, “We live in bear country.”
Two doors down from a bear warning sign at the entrance to a pathway leading to the river, Amanda Todd is also aware of all the recent activity.
“I’m not scared because we’re being careful. It’s a black bear, and it’s not attacking people or anything. It dumped over a couple of garbage cans – it was in ours,” she said.
Todd chuckled when she recalled a video showing the bear running across front yards across from the bus stop where kids were watching.
But that doesn’t mean she’s OK with her kid waiting alone at his bus stop. The morning after that incident, she drove her teenage son to the bus stop just down the street and waited with him in the car until the bus came.
She makes noise when she goes out to the green bins at the side of the house and says she’s not worried.
“I’m not freaked out or anything,” she said.
Todd said Fish and Wildlfie officers put a trap out on the pathway near where the video incident happened, but she hasn’t heard if they’ve had any success.
“It was there for a couple of days but the bear didn’t go in. Bears are smart. He probably looked in and said, ‘I’m not going in that creepy looking thing,’” she laughed.
Calls to Alberta Fish and Wildlife from The Eagle have not been returned.
She said the fact the bear was seen rummaging in daylight was a bit concerning, and might indicate it was getting too comfortable around humans, and may end up being euthanized.
“They can’t have it running around, right?”
Nick de Ruyter of WildSmart said Cochranites may need a bit more reminding of measures they can take to reduce bear interactions, as compared to Canmore residents, who are right in the heart of bear country.
It may be the case that in established neighbourhoods or housing developments in Cochrane, with fenced-in lots, residents are thinking ‘it can’t happen in my backyard.’
“I think there may be a little bit of complacency, but it’s more lack of knowledge, lack of education,” de Ruyter said. “Here (in Canmore) people think about it more, and hear about it more – there’s more wildlife movement.”
All the bears that got into household garbage in Canmore this year have been relocated and/or euthanized, he said, before citing the statistic that only 30 per cent of relocations are successful.
The bear behaviour specialist said the fact that the bear in Riverview has been returning for three weeks is cause for concern.
“He’s saying, ‘Hey – I’ve got a new food source.'"
To keep bears out of trouble and out of town, de Ruyter said residents need to remove attractants or make sure they’re properly secured. He singled out composted recycling and fruit trees as favored targets for bears, along with a seasonal food source that could be better monitored.
“This time of year, pumpkins – I’ve noticed many on people’s doorsteps in Canmore. Take them inside, and bring them out on Halloween,” he advised.
“We can’t prevent bears from wandering into town, but we can certainly prevent them from getting a food reward, or having a reason to linger,” he said.
