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Avoiding Bear Conflicts in Creston

“The best way to avoid conflict with bears is to avoid drawing them into the community with unsecured foods”
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A black bear carries a bag of garbage in its mouth. Photo: Kirk Friederich

By Rosie Wijenberg, Selkirk-Purcell WildSafeBC Coordinator

As we head deeper into autumn, local bears are preparing for winter denning with heavy feeding activity and have come down from the mountains to search for food.

During this time, bears will consume over 20,000 calories and be actively foraging up to 20 hours per day. During the winter, bears live off of the fat they have accumulated in their body and do not consume any food.

This adaptation allows them to survive harsh winters when food is less abundant. It also means that feeding and getting fat in the fall is a matter of life and death — a bear that has not stored up enough fat may not survive the winter.

The fall tends to be a time of year when there are increased calls to the Conservation Officer Service and WildSafeBC regarding bears in conflict as they try and access human-based food sources.

Bears that have learned to access food rewards near people may return repeatedly if they lose their natural wariness of people. The best way to avoid conflict with bears is to avoid drawing them into the community with unsecured foods. If they don’t get a food reward, they will move on or focus on known natural food sources.

As a community, everyone can play a part in reducing human-bear conflicts and increase community safety. It begins at home, looking at what you can do to make your property safer by securing bear attractants:

  • Secure garbage inside and do not let it stockpile.
  • Smelly items can be wrapped in newspaper and frozen in an indoor freezer until it can be disposed of.
  • Bird feeders should be avoided in bear country as 1 kg of birdseed has over 8,000 calories.
  • Pets should be fed indoors or only put out small amounts that will be consumed immediately. Do not leave dirty food bowls outside.
  • Manage your compost so it doesn’t smell.
  • Livestock, chickens and beehives should have a well-installed permanent electric fence that is maintained.
  • Barbeques should be cleaned frequently and the excess grease removed.
  • Fish waste should be disposed of in deep water and not left on the beach.
  • Pick fruit early and let it ripen indoors. Pick up any windfall. If this is not possible, get an electric fence to protect the tree and your harvest.
  • Gut piles and waste from hunting should never be disposed of near places frequented by humans.

WildSafeBC has a number of resources and information on their website to provide best practices to avoid wildlife conflict www.wildsafebc.com. Contact selkirkpurcells@wildsafebc.com with any local questions you may have.