By Steve Hubrecht

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Bears are still out and about in Columbia Valley communities, getting into garbage and chicken coops, although not quite as badly as they were a few weeks ago.

In late September and October, the Pioneer was flooded with residents’ reports of bears in Invermere, Radium, Wilmer and Windermere, and conservation officers reported that five bears had died in the span of a week: three killed after being hit by vehicles on local highways, and two which had to be put down by the officers after becoming too habituated to humans, and consequently posing a safety risk.

The sheer number of bear incidents has been trending downward in recent weeks, but local conservation officer Matt Hall explained to the Pioneer that there are still plenty of them about in the Columbia Valley.

“This year, we’ve had quite a few bears getting into chicken coops, and we continue to have that,” Hall told the Pioneer. “Normally, we do see bears leave the valley sometime in early or mid-November, as they starting thinking about finding beds for the winter. But this year, for whatever reason, we are getting close to that time, and there are still a lot of bears around. Yes, the numbers are down from a few weeks ago, but there is still plenty of activity, and the bears are still getting into stuff in towns.”

The principal attractants in the past few weeks are the same ones as earlier this fall: fruit trees loaded with ripe and overripe fruit, chicken coops and unsecured garbage bins.

The new district of Invermere garbage bins “have been a bit of headache,” conceded Hall. “A lot of people seem to think they are bear proof. That plastic locking device seems to fool people. They will not stop a bear, and these bins are not bear proof. Unfortunately, people don’t realize that, and a lot of people are leaving their bins out well before the recommended hour or two before pickup time, on pickup day. Some are even leaving them out overnight.”

The mother and cubs that had been seen frequently in Radium earlier this fall have apparently moved on, and have not been spotted in awhile, said Hall, but in the week before speaking with the Pioneer, Hall had been forced to put down a bear in the Wilder subdivision and another in Wilmer. Both bears had repeatedly come into populated areas and had become too comfortable with close proximity to humans. The Wilmer bear had been getting into chicken coops in that community.

“It was a safety issue,” said Hall, of the Wilmer bear. “It was getting a lot of coops. It would be much less of an issue if everybody who has a chicken coop had electric fencing. Electric fencing doesn’t need to be super expensive. There are, in fact, an impressive number of affordable options out there. The bears, they are trying to pack on the calories before winter, and chicken coops are very easy for bears to find — there’s a lot of smell and a lot of noise — and without electric fencing, they are very easy for bears to get into.”

Hall agreed with fellow conservation officer Greg Kruger’s observation that there are more bears out this fall than has typically been the case in the past few years.

“We haven’t been this busy at this time of year for awhile, a number of years, in fact,” said Hall, adding it’s hard to say for sure what’s driving that trend. “It may just be the natural ebb and flow of the valley population.”

Hall implored valley residents and visitors to be mindful about reducing bear attractants.

“The bears are certainly still there, and it is certainly still a problem. People need to remain vigilant,” he said. 

All bear sightings in towns should be reported on the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) line at 1-877-952 7277.