In the past couple of weeks a number of residents have informed me that they have never had a bear problem until now. Now they will start bringing in their garbage and securing other bear attractants. I have also been told by a couple of residents, that once a bear finds their birdseed, they know it’s time to bring it in for the season. Please don’t wait for the bear to find food at your house, before securing bear attractants. We expect to see bears in or near town, we live in bear country, but if the bear doesn’t find food, the bear will carry on its way. If the bear does find food that is when the trouble begins and it is often too late for that bear.

Bears are naturally wary of humans and a healthy bear prefers not to be around people, but bears are opportunist feeders and are driven by their stomachs. Bears can overcome this wariness to people to access food, especially in the late summer and fall. Often bears will take available garbage and pull it into a nearby forest for security cover. The bear now has a little feast to enjoy in a place where they can not be seen. There are places in town near forested areas where you find these “bear stashes,” filled with ripped apart garbage.

Once a bear has been rewarded with food, whether garbage, pet food, unmanaged compost, birdseed or fruit, the bear knows your address, and will be back. The bear has learned to associate people with food and will continue to look throughout the neighbourhood for more. A bear that continually feeds on garbage is termed a “garbage food conditioned bear.” It is easier to eat fruit, garbage and birdseed and fill up, then forage through the forest eating vegetation, roots and insects. While searching for food around people, the bear learns there is no negative consequence to accessing garbage. As the time the bear spends in town increases, the bear’s natural wariness toward people decreases and the bear becomes what is referred to as “human habituated.” This bear appears tame, does not scare easily and will generally tolerate people near by. The bear may become bolder in its search for people food, and may begin to break into sheds or enter houses to access food.

A food conditioned and human habituated bear is less predicable and is potentially dangerous. A bear will defend three things: personal space, a food source and their cubs. Although a human habituated bear appears to be tame, their personal space is reduced, but is still there. What happens if you walk out your back door and startle this bear while feeding on garbage? These are the bears that often come into conflict and are destroyed as a result.

Help to keep our community safe and our local bear population healthy. Please don’t wait for the bear to find your garbage, pet food, fruit or birdseed before removing it or putting it in a secure place where a bear can not access it. Thank you to the many residents that are proactive and are securing or removing attractants, before bears find food on their properties.

Revelstoke Bear Aware is currently looking for volunteers who would like to be involved in a door to door campaign to help raise bear awareness. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about how to be Bear Aware please give me a call at (250) 837-8624 or visit our website at revelstokebearaware.org.