Bears on the Prowl

This is the time of year when bears, who’ve been dormant all winter, feel a great need to eat. Because the berry crop was sparse last year in this area, bears went to bed hungry last fall without enough fat to sustain them and are now waking up famished. I read this today. That does not mean you should leave food out for the bears though. Just the opposite. Fish and Wildlife people are warning everyone to keep garbage lids on tight, be smart about bird feeders and if you compost openly in the yard, good luck. Actually, they didn’t say that, I did. Having lived on Vancouver Island and Whistler during my adult life, I’ve encountered a few bears out there, and I know that if a bear gets used to human food, they can be troublesome and ultimately dangerous, sometimes needing to be eliminated. And by that I don’t mean relocated. Like my dogs, bears never want to go back to their bland food after they’ve had a taste of fries and pizza.

When I lived and worked in Whistler BC, we had a bear in town one day, that went right up to the McDonald's drive -through window and ordered several Happy Meals. Actually no one knew what it was ordering because the window got closed too quickly. Then it moved on to the Timeshare Sales Office across the street, but they had a policy about 800 pound owners with excessive body hair, due to hot tub rules and restrictions. Those were the days in Whistler when the dump had no fence and a fun thing to do with house guests visiting from Mexico was to go to the Whistler dump to show them the bear show (from your locked car, of course). They have since enclosed the free-for-all feeding station at the famous ski resort of Whistler, and the bears have had to go back to grasses, roots, berries and insects.

Bears are omnivores, which means they’ll eat whatever they can find, including meat (small animals and carrion) although they don’t often get their paws on that. But a nice compost heap would look like a buffet to bears. So be warned.

I got started on the bear topic when I was reading Mama Suzi on Facebook who was asking her daughter Kari, the half marathon runner, to be careful when jogging and watch the kids when they’re out to play, having just read that one was spotted in Sammamish. Bears can easily hop fences and of course, the invisible fence has no effect on them unless they found my dog’s collar out there somewhere and managed to put it on. But bears are shy animals, not likely to come into a backyard if there are humans - kids or adults. And they are especially shy of barking dogs, unless that dog is charging the cubs. You know that expression, “I was like a Mother Bear?” If not, just understand that it’s used to describe the fierce attack mentality, when children are threatened.

Have you ever seen a bear dance with a tree, in time to disco music? Click on this and you will.

Once, when I was hiking in Whistler with my old dog, Brindle, I did the whole Logger’s Lake Loop, out near Function Junction and, at the end when I could almost see my parked car, my medium-sized pit bull sniffed the air and refused to go any farther down the path. I took this to mean trouble up ahead, so we retreated and rather than wait, I backtracked and did the loop again. Good thing, because a bear had been sighted ambling down the path in the direction of where Brindle was sniffing. It didn’t hurt to get more exercise and I don’t mean the running kind where you scream frantically and climb a tree, only to find out that bears are excellent climbers. Note: Running actually attracts wild animals, just like thrashing around in salt water attracts sharks.

Bears are always on the move after the hibernation process so if you see one, stay inside the house, let it pass. It will move on. Do not, repeat, do not smear honey on your hand to get a close up shot of the bear unless that honey’ed hand has the camera and can still press the shutter from inside the bear’s tummy. That would be an amazing shot.

Bears have poor eyesight and are easily deterred by noise. If it rears up on its hind legs, it’s trying to see you better, or smell you better. If you’ve just eaten a fruit salad, burger, pizza or have just come from your shift at McDonald's, you might consider backing away from the bear very slowly. The experts advise that you speak in a calm low voice as well. Ninety nine times out of a hundred, the bear will get the idea you are human and take off through the brush. They are not circling around to attack you from another angle because bears are not aggressive animals.

If you have any doubt about bears' non-agressive behavior, I challenge you to check out the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn. where you can see video footage of the world’s most famous web cam bear Lily and her two cubs, who were both born on camera in the spring of 2011 and 2010.

You can see live web cams of bears frolicking at the center and watch the founder, Lynn Rogers, put a radio collar on a non-anaesthetized bear in the wild. He is the bear whisperer though, an exception to the rule and those bears in the woods, near his center, have known the sound of his voice for years. You can even sign the petition online to support the cause to eliminate the hunters in that area from shooting the collared bears we’ve been watching on a live cam for years.

The best thing you can do for the bear population this spring and summer is to keep your yard free of food, do not leave yummies or garbage out, especially when camping (or in your tent, for that matter), and back away slowly, while speaking softly. The few times I have come face to face with a bear in the wild has been frightening but memorable. They are amazing creatures.