Paul Doyle and his wife moved into their Maple Ridge, B.C., home seven years ago, opened a small hobby farm, and hoped for some quiet in their retirement.
For the last few weeks, however, an unexpected and persistent problem has disrupted their peace: black bears.
“They were never a problem before. For six and a half years, the bears were just something cute to look at, wandering by on the road or out in the distance,” he told Global News.
“All of a sudden, since about May or June this year, it started changing.”
Doyle said after devastating the poultry a little further down the road, the bears have hit his property, tearing through the chicken coop and killing his stock.
“I reinforced (the coop) and a few days later, (the bear) was back at it again. He injured a few chickens and killed one more, and he’s killed three sheep at belong to the neighbours, and sheep are a large animal — awfully big for a bear to go after.”
It’s a familiar story.
In July, Global News reported concerns from a pair of Maple Ridge women who said black bears were evading their structural defences, like fences and posts, to kill poultry on their properties.
At the time, Pascale Shaw of the Rainbow Eggs Farm in Whonnock said bears had destroyed between 30 and 40 of her chickens, leading to hastily sell or gift the remaining hens and chicks. Shaw said she also installed an electric fence around her other livestock and began guarding the yard with a paintball gun, while awaiting permits to remove trees to fence-in the entire property.
Her neighbour, Charna Chan, said she was using similar measures to safeguard her coops, with limited effect against the persistent bears. One particularly stubborn bear, however, had gotten used to being hit with a paintball gun and was reportedly teaching her cubs how to climb Chan’s fence.
“She needs to be relocated or something, because she’s learned that it’s a free meal here and she’s teaching her babies,” Chan told Global News on July 16.
Doyle estimates that black bears have now killed chickens at nine farms in the community.
Like Shaw and Chan, he said he doesn’t want the problem bears to be killed — just taught to stay away, or be relocated.
“Problem is, the bears don’t have any place to go. We’ve had construction at the bottom of the hill here,” he explained.
“The big male is aggressive. He comes at people. He followed somebody down the road the other night and they got so scared they ran into the nearest house … it could be bad.”
Doyle said the BC Conservation Officer Service (BC COS) is aware of the problem, but haven’t visited.
Birgit Mischke, the neighbour whose sheep were killed, said she has lived in the Whonnock area since the 1970s, and has never had a problem with bears until this year: “This year is the first time ever that I was scared of a bear.”
She said a large black bear entered her garage and chewed up her milk cartons. She, too, said she phoned the BC COS but the service hasn’t paid a visit.
Her llama now stands on guard at her property.
“No food, climate change,” she theorized, as to the cause for the bears’ intrusion.
Global News has reached out to the BC COS for comment on this story.
The BC COS has previously confirmed reports of many bear sightings in the Maple Ridge area, and in July, said it was working with local farmers on techniques to minimize the loss of livestock.
“It is not possible for the COS to create predator-free zones. Responsibility rests with farmers to take adequate steps to protect their livestock from wildlife,” the service said in an emailed statement.
“The COS is continuing to monitor bear activity in the area and will respond as necessary to ensure public safety … There have currently been no reports of aggressive bear behaviour towards people related to these incidents.”
In a previously emailed statement, the City of Maple Ridge said it had referred concerns about bears in the Whonnock area to the BC Conservation Office Service (BC COS) North Fraser Region and advised the public to report all sightings through the COS’ website.