Monday 4 July 2011

Bears - be wise

Bears do not USUALLY attack people, but it is unusual. Black bear attacks are extremely rare — since 2000, there have been two fatal incidents involving black bears in British Columbia.

One Muskoka resident had been feeding raccoons, and shot a small bear at the feeding station. Bear Wise tells us to put away all bird feeders in summer.
IN AN IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY in Ontario: contact your local police force or dial 911

TO REPORT BEAR PROBLEMS: contact the Bear Reporting Line at:
1-866-514-BEAR (2327) (TTY) 705 945-7641

  • Make garbage and composting inaccessible to wildlife: 

    • Use heavy garbage cans with locking lids
    • Fasten lids with bungee cords
    • Put garbage out the morning of pick-up, not overnight
  • Use motion-sensitive floodlights to startle and scare away wildlife
  • Keep pet doors locked at night
  • Do not leave pet food outside overnight
  • Keep BBQ grills clean and close BBQ lids after use
  • Close your doors, screens won't keep them out
B.C. man walked nearly a kilometre for help after grizzly attack
Bleeding from severe cuts and puncture wounds, his arm broken, Johnny Johnson walked nearly a kilometre to find help after being attacked by a grizzly bear on Monday on British Columbia’s remote central coast. It was the second incident in B.C. in a week involving bears.


Woman in bear attack likely alive during mauling

4 bear necropsies completed

Officials say a woman whose fed-upon remains were found near Lillooet, B.C., on Thursday appears to have been alive at some point during a bear attack.

Officials say scat, tracks, bite marks and hair found at the scene indicate a black bear fed upon a woman's remains.

Before you get your knickers in a knot, this is not TOTALLY abnormal behaviour, but it is HIGHLY unusual. With its 8 million park visitors, Algonquin has only seen two such attacks. It is the far end of the scale for a bear to actually EAT humans, let alone attack them. But while we incarcerate such humans, it is still on the 'normal' end of the scale for bears. They eat a wide variety of food in the wild. Most bear sightings are uneventful. You simply act like a human and they take off, if you don't get between them and cubs and don't surprise them. If they come after you it is not normal, and these :2010 Muskoka bear attacks, are not normal.


B.C. woman's remains seemingly eaten by bear

4 bears in area killed as precaution

Bear crossed the road in front of us near Gravenhurst.
Bears that feed on human remains are more dangerous. In remote locations where there are berries, water, and good habitat, you must be careful. Act like a human, be loud, talk. Most will avoid you. If they don't then you know they are dangerous, either protecting their young, or they have a taste for humans.

This woman, whose name has not been released, had complained to police about bears on her remote, isolated property several weeks before her death. 

There is evidence a bear tried to enter her home or cause damage to the outside of her house.
Some are shocked that all 4 were killed, but they are very dangerous once they taste human flesh.

Man's inhumanity towards nature.

A Christina Lake man has been charged with feeding dangerous wildlife, an offence under the Wildlife Act that can lead to a fine of up to 100-thousand dollars, a 12-month jail term, or both.

Two of several black bears near Christina Lake have been shot after continuing to demand food from area residents.
Conservation officers say the bears are among 30 bruins that were trained to eat dog food and hang around a rural Christina Lake property in southern B.C., while protecting this dude's marijuana crop.
They tried to rehabilitate them:

3 comments:

Krista said...

One of my inlaws cottage neighbours had a meat composter - and called to complain that bears were hanging around her property. They just laughed at her. Can't blame them!
Thanks for the tips!

Powell River Books said...

Not only are we seeing more Black Bears in town, Grizzlies are moving closer but still back in the bush. They surmise the new slash for the power lines from the run of river project has opened up travel routes for them to use. - Margy

Kay said...

Wow! We did see the black bears only in Canada for the first time in our lives... in the wild. We've never seen them at any of our national parks in the U.S.