BURSTClearwater residents have been noting what some say is unusual bear activity in town this late summer and early fall.
Stories from residents include a bear getting into a backyard freezer and pushing a door open, one tearing into a shed multiple times and another being scared off using a car.
On Sept. 24, Clearwater resident Kathie Petrie posted to a local Facebook group saying a bear on Lodge Drive had gotten into their freezer and pushed the door open. The freezer was on their back porch.
“Hard to scare off! Called conservation officer, hope something gets done. Beware,” she said in the post.
On Sept. 25, David Karn, a media officer with the Ministry of Environment and Parks, confirmed that conservation officers had set traps in Clearwater to capture the offending bear.
“They have been speaking with the public on a regular basis sharing advice on (attractant) management and safety,” Karn said.
In comments to the Clearwater Times, Petrie described the incident at her home, saying she saw another resident warn of a bear on Lodge Drive, and quickly removed attractants from the back deck, locked the door and turned the motion light on.
“Then I heard it come on the deck and crash around, then leave as the light went out,” she said.
Petrie explained that later in the night, her husband heard a crash and the back door swung open.
“He yelled at it like a bad dog and stopped it, it was in the process of opening the freezer and had ripped the seals and lid lining, pushing against the door, which is beside the freezer,” she recalled.
Petrie said it took a lot of pot banging and yelling to get the bear to retreat from the deck.
“Then it just turned and stared at him. It stayed out on the lawn and Brian kept yelling at it to go.”
Petrie said a conservation officer came the next day and set a trap at the bottom of the property, with instructions to call if they heard the trap door slam. She heard it two nights later.
“After a night of hearing the bear scratch and rock the trap, they finally came to retrieve it the next morning, and I hoped it was the one,” she explained.
Maddy Beka Capostinsky, founder of the Clearwater Humane Society, shared an email with the Clearwater Times confirming the conservation officer service had trapped and dispatched a non-injured bear for public safety reasons.
Capostinsky, also a resident of Lodge Drive, said that on Sept. 30 at around 9 p.m., she heard a dog barking, ripping boards and a commotion on her neighbour’s property and knew it was a bear. She said the neighbour wasn’t home.
“So I got in my car and drove over there and it was ripping apart her storage shed thing,” she said.
Capostinsky ended up scaring the large bear away with her car.
“I was trying to save my neighbour’s property and protect her kids and dog. And I don’t want to have anyone harm the bear, so using my vehicle to scare it away was the safest thing,” she explained.
Lynda Jacobsen, a resident of Sunshine Valley in Clearwater, said a bear, who’s been described as having an injured back foot, broke into her shed multiple times in August.
She shared a video of the bear from the beginning of August, saying he looked healthier then, and noted he wasn’t afraid of people.
“He had just ripped the door frame off our locked shed and taken the sunflower seeds out to eat,” she said in early September.
In early October, she said the bear still checks out the shed sometimes, and noted they don’t lock it anymore so he doesn’t have to break in.
“The last time he was here that he opened the shed door was between 4 and 7 a.m. on Thursday (Oct. 1), I think. He is the only one that bothers with the shed. The other bears just check around the carport and carry on with their journey,” Jacobsen said.
Unusual levels of bear activity
Capostinsky said this year has felt “noticeably different locally” for bear activity.
“We seem to be seeing more bears in and around town, including in areas where people who have lived in Clearwater their entire lives say they have rarely, if ever, had problems before,” she said.
She also noted that many of those residents are bear aware, and try to manage attractants. She doesn’t think every incident can be blamed on residents not doing enough. Capostinsky also pointed to poor natural food availability as being a possible reason for the increased activity this year.
“That doesn’t necessarily explain every bear we’re seeing, but it could be one factor behind why there seems to be so much more activity around populated areas this year.”
Karn echoed that possibility, saying that drought conditions, wildfires and poor berry crops in some areas of the province may have reduced natural food availability.
“Bears may be travelling further and looking in novel places for sustenance, and this means it is more important than ever to not give bears a reason to linger in communities.”
Capostinsky noted a difference between “a bear simply being a bear” and more concerning behaviour.
“A bear passing through a property and continuing on is one thing. A bear repeatedly returning to residential areas, damaging fences, attempting to get into secured areas, or becoming increasingly comfortable around people is something different.”
Petrie also noted she was “uncomfortable with negative comments and accusations” she encountered on social media regarding her bear encounter.
“I grew up in Clearwater and have always been bear aware,” she said, adding she’s lived on Lodge Drive for 12 years and understands bear movements through the area.
Capostinsky said she’s had a lot of sleepless nights because of the bear activity, starting around Sept. 20.
“I feel like I’ve been on bear watch for weeks,” she said.
“The bears have been relentless around here and are going to people’s windows and breaking into buildings and we haven’t had this around here before. This is abnormal,” she said, and added that a neighbour informed her of another bear at her property the night of Monday, Oct. 5.
“I’ll be putting up more fencing to keep them out of my yard,” Capostinsky said.
District advises on attractants
On Oct. 1, the District of Clearwater posted to their Facebook page about the recent bear activity.
“As you know there are multiple bears active in Clearwater,” the district said.
“This is the time of year they are looking for food to last them through the winter and garbage and food stored outside is a prime source of calories. Conservation Officers have responded to multiple reports of bears trying to enter houses in the area.”
It noted that managing attractants was a way to keep the neighbourhood safe and prevent human-bear conflicts.
The district gave the following advice on attractant management, in their words:
– Secure waste: Store garbage, recycling, and green bins indoors or in wildlife-proof containers. Set bins out only on collection morning (after 7 a.m.) and bring them back inside by evening. Freeze smelly food scraps until collection day.
– Remove food sources: Take down bird feeders. Pick ripe or fallen fruit from trees immediately. Feed pets indoors and clean barbecues after every use. Outdoor freezers are not bear-proof!
– Manage compost: Keep compost active and odour-free by layering greens and browns; avoid adding meat, fish, or cooked foods.
“Leaving out attractants is illegal and subject to a $300 fine under Bylaw 148/318, or a $460 fine from Conservation Officers. Putting garbage out for collection before 7 a.m. is also subject to a $100 fine,” the district said.
District of Clearwater bylaw officer Rod Tulett offered some comments on the early morning garbage collection fine.
“I’m sure people still do, but I don’t know anybody in the district or anywhere that’s going around patrolling before 7 a.m. to see if people leave their garbage out or not,” he said.
“It’s more an after-the-fact thing, where the bears have strewn it all across the yard. Then we’ll come along and potentially, potentially give them a ticket. But more likely, it starts off with just a, this is a warning.”
He also noted garbage collection in Clearwater is done via a private company, North Thompson Waste Management, rather than the district.
Karn noted on Sept. 29 that the BC Conservation Officer Service “continues to monitor bear activity in Clearwater and will respond as necessary to ensure public safety.”
He said bear conflicts and aggressive bear behaviour should be reported to the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a comment from District of Clearwater bylaw officer Rod Tulett on early morning garbage collection fines.