Valley residents are urged to keep any bear attractants properly secured as it’s that time of year when bears are starting to show up around town.
“They’re looking for food sources, they’re moving around, they’re foraging to sustain themselves through the summer and start to build a little bit of fat reserve,” said conservation officer Dan Eichstadter. “We’re a bear smart community so we’ve made a commitment to co-existing with bears and keeping their behaviour natural and wild and not letting them get conditioned to human food sources and habituating to our presence with that reward food.”
Bear attractants that are commonly found in people’s yards include garbage, pet good, bird seed, fruit from trees and fertilizers. Eichstadter said if people feed their animals outside, they should make sure to not leave excess food out. He said barbecues should also be cleaned regularly and garbage cans should be properly locked.
“If you don’t have a garage or shed that you can lock your garbage can in, get in touch with the city to get the bear resistant hardware put,” he said. “It’s our responsibility as humans to control our attractants and make sure bears don’t get comfortable in our residential neighbourhoods. It’s not where they belong.”
Eichstadter said people may notice orange warning tags attached to their garbage cans if they put them out at the curb the night before pickup is scheduled. City bylaw states garbage cans aren’t to be put out before 4 a.m. the morning of pickup.
“It’s a warning from myself and the city under bear smart,” he said. “Bear smart has been around for 10 years in town. The city ticket is $100 and the provincial ticket is $250 for unsecured attractants.”
The Alberni Valley Gleaning Project is a local organization that takes un-used fruit, nuts, and vegetables from residents yards and distributes them throughout the community. They can be found at www.albernivalleygleaning.org.
Because the winters in Port Alberni aren’t harsh enough for bears to need to hibernate, they are around the community all year round, Eichstadter said, and it’s important to keep attractants secure all the time.
If a person comes in contact with a bear, they should stay calm, don’t scream and try to back away without startling the animal.
“If you’re walking in a group of people, talk to each other, make some noise. Let the animal know that you’re coming into the area. There’s a good chance it will be long gone before you get there,” Eichstadter said.